Task Force R
by Psiro the Chronicler
Summary: Jinx, Thresh, Twisted Fate, Warwick, and Malphite have been... selected by a mysterious figure to fulfil a certain task. The rewards are too good to be true, and too good to pass up. Failure is not an option. Dive into an adventure that brings an unlikely group of five to unite and go against everybody and anybody.
1. Recruitment

**Author's Note:**

Hey there! This here is my first fanfic for League of Legends. I don't know if it's good, bad, or whatnot, but we'll have to see.

This was inspired by DC's Suicide Squad (Task Force X) and I do not own anything here. The characters are all from Riot Games.

* * *

**Chapter 1: Recruitment**

~Somewhere~

_This is Janna, live on Summoner's Rift._

_We've received word that the famed scientist Cecil B. Heimerdinger has just made a recent breakthrough. In his statement earlier today, he quotes that "my colleagues and I are on the verge of creating a self-sustaining generator! Experiments are still undergoing but I assure you all that results will be displayed within a week's notice." _

_What an outstanding discovery! With the idea of a generator that can produce an infinite amount of energy, many of Runeterra's problems can be solved! Light in the dark alleys of Zaun, no electricity bills to be paid in Piltover, and many more opportunities! _

_In other news, Demacia and Noxus are still tr- Bzzt_

The screen went dark and a single cold, dark word lingered in the room.

"No."

* * *

~Fields of Justice - Cavern~

Malphite was sleeping on his smooth marble bed. He was dreaming of the good old days when he was back at the Monolith. Everyone helped one another. There was no destruction, no conflict, no-

His eyes opened. _No intrusion of privacy,_ he thought to himself. "Show yourself!" he demanded. "I can hear your footsteps."

Nobody answered. Malphite stood up and walked toward the direction where he last felt the intruders footsteps were. The location was behind a large rock, and Malphite raised his arms and prepared to demolish the entire structure. "Get. Out." He warned. Malphite counted to five before he allowed his massive arms to crash onto the sturdy structure, completely obliterating what was once whole into minuscule fragments.

Once the dust cleared, he noticed that there was nothing left. Whatever was behind the rock was most likely gone. _Too strong_, he said to himself.

When Malphite decided to go back to sleep, he felt something attach to the back of his head. Something like a little pebble hitting his granite body. "Hm?" He grumbled. And at that moment, the little feeling he felt on his head delivered 20,000 volts of electricity throughout his body.

"HHRAAAAAGRH!" he shouted. This hurt, but it wasn't enough to take him down. While still taking the shock, he looked around and saw a figure hiding within the Shadows. Enraged, he tackled the figure with full force. The unstoppable force of his tackle destroyed the layers that supported the entire cavern. Within moments, the fifty storey tall structure crumbled onto Malphite.

The earth trembled and others might equate this to an earthquake or a magnitude of seven that nobody could have foreseen. But from the center of the fragmented pieces of the once magnificent structure emerged Malphite, who was still getting shocked.

"GRRRRAAAAAH," he was still in pain, but what he didn't see was a small canister that was thrown at his feet. The little canister exploded, enveloping Malphite with a gooey substance. As Malphite struggled to rid himself of the goo, the shock started to react with the mysterious goo. Slowly, the more he struggled, the stronger he was bounded. Malphite resisted as much as he could, but within minutes he was fully encased and turned into a harmless statue.

The Shard of the Monolith stood completely still, and a mysterious figure appeared from the shadows. "One down."

* * *

~Piltover - Piltover Central Bank~

Police sirens echoed throughout the streets. Patrol cars surrounded the perimeter of the Piltover Central Bank, the bank that holds the wealth of many millionaires from around the world. The doors suddenly bursted and the Piltover Enforcer came out with an unconscious small figure, handcuffed and bruised.

The Sheriff began to grow a smile upon seeing Vi holding on to the most infamous and notorious criminal in all of Piltover: Jinx.

"We finally caught her cupcake!" Vi said with a smirk on her face.

"Yes we did, and how's the bank's interior?" Caitlyn asked.

"Uh, yeah, about that," Vi's grin changed into a nervous smile, "you see, there was a lot of trash talking, a big fight started, and a bomb was about to go off, and-"

Caitlyn shook her head in dismay. "Honestly, sometimes I wonder if you cause more damage than Jinx does. Have you disarmed the bomb?"

"Our guys are looking in on it, they should be do-"

Before Vi could finish, a huge explosion can be heard from the inside of the bank. Fires erupted and debris were starting to fall. Nearby onlookers were screaming; some were hurt from the explosion.

"EVACUATE THE AREA!" Caitlyn ordered the remaining officers.

As every squad tried to contain the situation, more explosions suddenly erupted. Vi grabbed Jinx and shoved her into a police car. She told the driver, "GET HER SCRAWNY ASS TO MAXIMUM SECURITY. THEN GET YOUR FAT ASS BACK HERE WITH THE FIRE DEPARTMENT" Vi slammed the door and then proceeded to rescue civilians from the falling debris.

The police van zoomed through the streets and drove away from all the chaos. Jinx then opened one eye to survey the vehicle. It turns out that it was just her and the driver. With a smile on her face, she sat upright, undid her cuffs, and spat out several teeth. "Hahahaha! Good thing Fat Hands didn't knock my teeth out this time!" she said as she gathered her "teeth" from the floor. "These fake teeth sure came in handy when making the 'de-teeth-onators!' Hahahahaha"

"Ingenious display of wit," the driver said.

"I KNOW RIGHT!" Jinx said as she pulled out her ZAP Pistol from one of her belts. "Stupid Fat Hands was so happy to thrash me that she only disarmed Pow-Pow and Fishbones!" She then pointed her gun towards the driver and said, "so unless you want to die, pull this police van over and let me drive!"

"Sorry, but you are mistaken," the driver replied.

"Great, now gimme the- what?" Jinx looked puzzled.

"This is not a police van," the cold voice said.

With a push of a button, the entire vehicle was filled with sleeping gas.

Back at the bank, the fires were taken care of and all the injured were taken to the hospital. Vi and Caitlyn looked relived the a disaster was averted. However, when a report came in that a police van crashed into an alleyway, they bolted towards the scene only to find the body of a driver, and no Jinx.

* * *

~Twisted Treeline - Forest~

It was night time and the moon was full. Plants and vegetation filled the area and provided a peaceful haven for the animals. By a calm lake, a stag came to have a drink along with the other animals. It was a watering hole for all to share. However, what disturbed the peaceful air under the moonlight was the sudden scent of blood. All the animals knew who was approaching and started to flee, but it was too late.

Warwick stalked his prey throughout the forest, never stopping to rest for his predatory instincts could not be stopped. How strange that a once sophisticated man turned into a howling beast. He clawed, slashed, and tore through the forest and any animal saw turned into prey.

Within ten minutes, the werewolf was satisfied with his evening meal. Discarding his fifth carcass, he approached the lake and refreshed himself with a drink.

Suddenly, something whizzed through the air. Warwick's reflexes were too quick and he avoided a certain projectile from hitting his head. The dart landed in the lake a white flash bursted out from the spot, blinding the Blood Hunter.

"Who dares?!" snarled Warwick, he may be blinded, but he didn't need to see his target given that all of his other senses were already enhanced. He noticed a certain smell that wasn't there earlier. _Someone's here_, he thought.

The new scent started to move and Warwick followed on all fours. He was enraged at the new being that tried to hurt him, but at the same time, he was hungry again for whatever he was chasing. He still couldn't see, but he knew from the smell that he was getting closer to his target.

With a large leap, he tackled his prey and started to claw and slash at it. The feeling of ecstasy rushed through his entire body. He enjoyed killing; the beast within him was enjoying this. But he was startled when the object he was clawing half-way through inserted something into his chest.

Warwick suddenly felt an incredible amount of pain coursing throughout his veins. Everything ached. Every part of his body started to be paralysed. He let out an echoing howl throughout the night, and it sounded like an animal in defeat. Eventually, the only thing he could do was breath.

* * *

~The Shadow Isles - Prison~

Thresh was enjoying his daily dose of satisfaction from torturing his victims. Here was a father who dedicated to a life of crime so that he may feed his children.

"N-No! Stop! Let me go!" the father said.

"Oh dear, you seem to be forgetting who I am," Thresh said as he brought his hook to scrape his victim's face. Blood trickled down the man's face as he trembled in agony.

"Please, please, let me go! I ha-hav- I HAVE A FAMILY TO FEED!" He screamed.

"Oh, and how long has it been since you've seen this family of yours?" Thresh asked with a certain purring gesture.

"T-they mu-must be starving now." the man said.

"Ah you mortals and your weak needs. Why look at me! I'm a spectre! I do not need to eat, but I do enjoy a soul or two." Thresh then got a hold of the man's leg and stabbed his hook deep into the flesh. He gouged the limb repeatedly and the man screamed louder and louder after each strike. When the screams began to soften, Thresh got his hook around the man's neck and asked, "I'm feeling generous now, you've been quite the entertainment. I'll grant you one wish before I take your soul."

The man couldn't muster enough strength to speak, but the warden knew this. "Oh, you wish to see your family one last time?" He suggested.

The father could barely speak, but he managed to whisper with his last breath, "yes."

Thresh snapped his fingers and in front of the man were three horribly dismembered bodies, two heads, two half-heads, fourteen limbs, seven parts of a leg, a ball of internal organs meshed up together, and three sets of eyes with needles pierced through them.

The father's spirit, left and entered Thresh's lantern.

"And everyone says I'm inconsiderate," Thresh sighed. He conjured up a list and began to read what's next. "Hm... should I go for the one who massacred a school, or the one who ate his own mother? Choices, choices..."

But unaware of his surroundings, the Chain Warden was suddenly blasted with a beam of energy. Thresh was on his knees, surprised of the amount of energy that could affect a spectre like him. Normally, he wouldn't be hurt this much from anything. Anything except for...

"Runic... magic..." he said before he was blasted once more.

Once the smoke cleared, Thresh let out an shrieking wail and grabbed his hook and lantern, and threw his hook in the direction of the blast. The hook landed, and Thresh smiled, "your mine now intruder!" He pulled with all his might and prepared to slit the intruder's throat or any limb he could slice, but as the unknown intruder was pulled to Thresh, the warden was suddenly staring down the barrel of a cannon powered by a magic-encased rune stone.

The cannon was then fired at point blank.

* * *

~Bilgewater - Saltwater Pub~

Saltwater Pub was a famous cite where everyone has a good time. There was no other better feeling than stealing the cash of the person next to you, or chugging down whatever concoction the bartender and everyone else mixed together in one mug, or even a friendly game of GWGIL (Guess Which Gun Is Loaded), but what made its name was the amount of money being rolled out on gambling.

People from across the world entered this facility carrying their money, and hoping to make it big. Stories have been told of people going in and losing all their money, while others were sad excuses at the start, but became rich contenders. A man can certainly go in, and then out as a rich man... assuming you survived that is.

So while everyone was enjoying the time of their lives, getting drunk and all, one man entered the room. All went silent, even the piano player who only knows one song stopped playing. Twisted Fate tipped his hat and proceeded to go to the bartender. "A glass of your most expensive drink," he said. The bartender nodded and began mixing a variety of high-class liquids.

Everyone knew that Twisted Fate was rich, but they didn't know how rich. They didn't care how he got the money. Some say he stole them, others say he won them, but what was definitely certain was that he was a conman. So when a man like him walks into a pub like this, everyone knows that someone's going to lose something. And it wasn't usually money.

After the bartender brought out his special, Twisted Fate gave him fifty gold coins. Now, Runeterra's currency system has changed over the years, from barter to actual paper money and coins, but gold was definitely still very precious. Sure every Champion could easily farm for gold, but the League makes sure that every last coin goes back to them. Champions do get wages though, but only about one gold coin every month. Having two would make you set for a year. Ten would classify you as a middle class man. Twenty would make you rich. Fifty coins however, would make you a target.

"Keep the change Charlie," Fate said. Charlie the bartender suddenly became aware that all eyes were on him. He couldn't believe his eyes at the amount of riches that was placed in front of him. He could quit his job. Permanently retire. Buy his own island or castle! But he knew, deep within himself that he won't be able to get two steps into his kitchen without a knife to his back.

"S-sir, you can't be serious! This drink isn't worth that much! Please, do take some back. Why not take forty of them back? O-or thirty? Or-" before Charlie could hand over the coins back, Fate left his seat and towards the card table. Two dozen people approached the bar and Charlie went to his kitchen with no gold, but with his life.

As a fight broke out in the bar, everyone in the poker table stared at the Card Master. Everyone knew he loved to gamble, so, out of the spirit of greed, they dealt him in. There were five people playing, and all of them were very rich men. Some were mongrels while some were thieves. The pot started out with five gold. Then fifteen. It went up to forty. Soon, everyone was looking at a hundred gold coins. Now obviously, every person sitting there were conmen as well and they all knew that only one person was going to live, it was only a matter of who's going to strike first. As the dealer nervously showed the river cards, everyone tensed up, except for Twisted Fate. The fourth card was then shown, and strangely, the four other players brought their hands behind their back. Was it to grab a knife? A gun? A bomb? Nobody really knew because everyone was waiting for the last card.

As the final card was about to be unfold, the lights went out. And all hell broke loose. Guns were blazing, knives were throwing, chair, tables, glassware were no more. The Saltwater Pub caused so much turmoil that the local authorities called some members from Piltover to help with the situation. The pub burned down, people were missing, bodies were floating across the sea side. But nobody found the pot.

The pot was never found because a certain teleporter took it and left. He inspected his loot, and was disappointed because none of the coins were real! They were all counterfeits, but to the untrained eye, they looked like the real thing. Because Fate had so much experience handling real gold coins, he knew which ones were real, and since he has experience making fakes ones, he knew which were counterfiets. He expected to find people in the pub who were stupid enough to bring real cash, but to no avail. He kicked the pot all the way down across the street and everybody who's anybody rushed out like mice to collect their "fortune."

"Saltwater Pub's gone, might as well try the casino at Zaun," Twisted Fate said to himself. He took a few steps, but stopped. He used fifty fake coins back in the Pub, and he doesn't want to make fifty more (it took effort to make them), so he clenched his teeth in frustration since he tossed the pot down the road. He ran back down the road, hoping to find some that people missed. "Stupid, Fate. Gettin' lazy and stupid," he cursed at himself.

"Looking for this?" a voice said.

Fate looked behind him and saw a figure holding a gold coin. "Yeah," Fate said, "it was a gift from my mother." He lied as he snatched the coin.

"Well then," said the hooded figure said, "come this way, because there's more over there."

As the figure went into the alleyway, Twisted Fate teleported out of there. He always had a "sixth sense" when it came to suspicious people. He teleported a safe distance away and looked back where he once stood saying, "you can fool others, but not me." He tipped his hat, and began walking the other direction.

It wasn't long until he was at the outskirts of town when he saw the hooded figure again. "What?! How'd you-" before Twisted Fate could teleport out, the figure pressed a button and a high pitched buzzing sound came the Card Master. "AARGH!" He screamed, but the loud buzzing muted his voice. The pain began throbbing in his head and he started to twitch and shake! Fate fell to his knees and took out the coin from his pocket and threw it far away from him. As soon as the coin left his person, the sound slowly dissipated. Exhausted, he tried to stand up, but the figure approached him and pointed a gun at his head. The last thing Fate thought of before he was knocked out was one of his many rules when it came to Bilgewater: "Never take anything given to you."

* * *

**It's a bit short, but that's because it's the introductory chapter.**

**Feedback would be very appreciated. Have a great day! **


	2. Introduction

**Author's Note:**

**Hello! Here's where things get interesting!**

**I do hope you all enjoy!**

* * *

**Chapter 2: Introduction**

~?~

Inside the dimly lit room were lots of storage boxes, a television screen, a table, five chairs, a vial, an unconscious gambler, a sleeping girl, a knocked-out werewolf, a spectre, and a statue.

Twisted Fate was the first to regain consciousness. With a little groaning, he managed to sit upright. "Ugh, where am I?" he asked. He rose from the floor, saw the sleeping girl, and tried to wake her up. "Hey, wake up. Little miss, you have to wake up."

With a few shakes the blue haired girl rubbed her eyes and mumbled, "not now Pow-Pow, five more minutes," and went back to sleep.

That's when Fate recognised who the girl was. He's seen her in the Rift firing away her missiles (he's been hit by those before) throughout the map. She was the girl who's been shown live on television and told to be apprehended immediately.

"Jinx, wake up!" Twisted Fate said in a louder voice. Then he turned and saw Warwick snoring with his mouth wide open, showing his razor sharp teeth. Within a second he realised that if he wanted to live, he shouldn't wake up the sleeping beast.

"No, I don't wanna!" Jinx said half-asleep. This time, she was also louder than before.

Warwick began to turn facing the two humans and immediately Twisted Fate felt a chill run down his spine. He then slowly but surely pulled Jinx away from the Blood Hunter. However, what he didn't realise was that Jinx was still bruised from her last encounter with the Enforcer, so when he touched her shoulder, the sore woke Jinx up.

"OW! WHAT THE HELL DO YOU-mmmmph" Twisted Fate placed his hand around her mouth in hopes to shut her up.

But Warwick's eyes opened and he started sniffing the air. He found a specific scent that he knew too well: blood. He turned to where the scent was and howled, "MEAT!" He got up and dashed towards the two people. Jinx screamed, and Twisted Fate tried to get one of his stun cards up, but Warwick already leapt towards the defenceless duo.

Out of nowhere, a hook flew across the air and wrapped itself around the wolf's neck, stopping him mid-flight. Warwick fell to the ground, and a familiar green glow came from a very famous spectre. "Down boy!" Thresh ordered. Warwick was still trying to free himself from the warden's chains, but Thresh was an expert in chaining down people.

"Hmph, you're on leash for now. You two okay?" Thresh said.

Twisted Fate was standing in front of Jinx in hopes to defend her from the clutches of the hungry wolf. Seeing as how they're no longer in danger, he fixed himself up and checked on Jinx. "You okay little lady?"

Jinx then punched the gambler in the stomach. "You're the one who woke me up! AND touched my bruise!" she pouted.

"So much... for a thanks..." TF groaned.

"Anyway, Fancy Pants," Jinx said, "where are we? What's this thing around my neck? And what's with the dumb rock statue?"

Suddenly, the television screen flickered to life and a hooded figure in purple started speaking. "That would be Malphite, my dear."

All eyes were fixated onto the screen and everyone wanted answers. "And who the hell are you?" TF asked.

"My my, Fate, such a rush," the figure shook his head. "Before I answer all your questions, would you kindly pour the contents of the vial on top of Malphite. It will free him from his encased state."

Jinx picked up the vial and looked at the statue. "Uh, how am I going to reach his head?"

True enough, the task the 5'3 Jinx had to do was to pour a vial on top of Malphite's head, who's about 36 feet tall.

"Anywhere on him's fine my dear," the voice said. So, Jinx just poured the contents onto Malphite's foot. The liquid was instantly absorbed into the statue and cracks started to appear. One by one, the little cracks formed into bigger cracks and soon, it was raining granite fragments. Malphite's features started to appear as he began to shake and stir.

The other four below him were busy avoiding debris. "Look out!" TF yelled as he made a dash towards the clearer side of the room. Thresh dragged Warwick to safety, but Jinx was left behind since she was the closest one to Malphite.

"Hey Match Stick! Anytime now!" She screamed as she was running away from the falling fragments. Thresh instantly knew what she was talking about and threw his lantern towards her direction. Jinx grabbed the floating object and Thresh pulled her out of the danger zone.

"Excellent," the voice continued, "you all have the makings of a great team."

Before they could object, Malphite roared and saw the tiny beings underneath him. "SMASH!" he shouted.

He lifted his foot and was about to crush them all, but then something stopped him.

Small explosions appeared throughout his entire body, deforming his gigantic state. The gargantuan toppled and fell onto the earth. His fall caused a small quake and everything in the room jumped one foot into the air.

The four were safe and sound because they hid behind a huge crate, which blocked majority of the fragment projectiles. Once the smoke was cleared, they all approached the screen once again.

"Now what was all the boom for?!" Jinx demanded.

Miraculously, the screen was not damaged. "Malphite's too tall. I planted the bombs so that he'd revert to his more... likeable state."

The Shard of the Monolith emerged and was towering at around seven feet tall, which everyone agreed was his original height.

"Oh Rocky!" Jinx said with glee as she approached and hugged Malphite. "I didn't realise that it was you! I'm so used to seeing you tackle people at around this height! You'd be in a bush waiting for the losers to come and then yell 'CHAAAARGE' and then you'd go in, knock them up, and then we're all 'YEAH' and they're all 'oh no!' and then we'd win team fights and-" Before she could finish, Malphite carefully pushed her aside and approached the screen.

"Who are you?!" he demanded.

The hooded figure laughed. "My name is Rokt the Sixth. I am the Summoner who has gathered you all here today."

"Rokt the Sixth? What kind of name is that?" Thresh asked.

"Warden, you complain about my name while you let someone with the name 'pizza' control you in games?"

"Look stranger, if you don't mind, get to the point." Twisted Fate said with a little frustration.

The purple figure fixed himself and continued talking, "Twisted Fate, Jinx, Thresh, Warwick, and Malphite. I have mission for you all. Complete it, and you will be rewarded. Fail, or mention who I am or why you are doing it, you will die."

Disbelief erupted after the voice finished. Thresh laughed at the thought of him dying, Malphite let out a rough "Hmph" sound in disbelief, Jinx was rolling on the floor laughing, Warwick was still chained by Thresh, and Twisted Fate smirked.

"Listen Summoner," TF said, "I don't care who you are, but you are one funny guy."

That was when the Summoner brought out a remote device and pressed a button. Suddenly, 5,000 volts ran across their bodies. Jinx and TF were twitching while the others were still okay, but that's when the voice said, "interesting, let's increase the shock to 10,000 volts."

Soon, Warwick began to writhe in pain, even Thresh fell to his knees. It was only Malphite who seemed to be unaffected. "STOP!" the juggernaut said.

In a flick of a switch, the electrical shock stopped. The four affected were slowly but surely recovering.

"What. The hell. WAS THAT?!" Jinx yelled.

"As you all know," the Summoner began, "when you were all accepted into the League of Legends, you all signed a contract that bounded your lives to the League. Some of you, like Malphite, have been with us for years, while some like Jinx, are relatively new to the agreement. Aside from being able to compete and combat the other Champions in the League, you all have one great benefit from joining the League of Legends: you are all immortal.

"Hmph, I'm already immortal," Thresh scoffed, "my soul cannot die."

"Keep telling yourself that Warden," Rokt the Sixth said, "last I heard, there used to be a couple that went on vanquishing residents of the Shadow Isles with runic magic."

"It would be wise not to compare me to those lowly vermin," Thresh threatened.

"I just joined to blow up more stuff!" Jinx fully recovered and was frolicking around.

"Yes, you have launched many rockets and have gotten plenty excited," the hooded one replied, "now imagine if the contract you signed was... terminated. How many rockets do you think you've taken to the face? How many Requiems have you felt? How many Death Lotus' do you think you've each received? Because once that contract disappears, you will be mortal once more."

Everyone was taken aback. Even Jinx felt a shiver down her spine.

"You're bluffing," Twisted Fate said, "you can't possibly do that."

"Oh yes I can," Rokt said, "and unless you accomplish this mission, you will die. I will terminate your contracts, activate the shock collars on your neck, then your legacies will be over. Is that clear?"

Everyone was dead silent. One might think that they were experiencing fear for the first time in a long time. Each of them, who would normally respawn in their respective dorms inside the Institute of War if they died, have dismissed the thought of ever worrying about death, but that sanctuary is now dangling on a thread.

"Good then, I see that you are all in agreement. Now, as for your task," the screen changed and showed an image of Heimerdinger, "Heim here has developed a self-sustaining energy generator. With this generator, there will be enough energy, or even unlimited energy, for everyone in Runeterra. I need you all to destroy it."

"And why should we destroy the device that could benefit everyone in the world?" Warwick asked.

"Because if this generator works, us Summoners will no longer be needed," the screen went back to Rokt's familiar figure. "Runeterra used to be in a chaotic state before we arrived. Only Demacia and Noxus were the superpowers of the world. Ever since we came, we have established a mutual relationship between the between the people of Runeterra and us Summoners. We help you, and we get to live amongst you. The key part of our relationship is that we offered our technology to provide you energy. Now, if the device works, we will no longer be needed, and we have nothing else to offer. As we speak, I've already heard diplomats of Runeterra already discussing on how to "remove" us visitors, and we certainly cannot have that."

"So," Malphite grumbled, "your lives are in our hands."

"Don't mistaken who are the puppets here," Rokt replied, "if you fail, you five will die, and another group will be tasked to destroy the generator."

"Bah, I'd rather die and let everyone have the generator," TF said.

"How noble, Fate, or is that a bluff I'm calling?" Rokt laughed. "Now, I understand that death may not be a motivating factor for you all, so I've decided to throw you all a bone. Should you succeed, you will all be rewarded."

"To hell with that!" Warwick said with anger, "what could you offer us to motivate us even more for this suicide mission?!"

"For the wolf, I offer a list of the locations of celestial beings," the voice said.

Warwick went silent. For all these years, he has been hunting down Soraka in hopes to claw out her heart to finish the concoction that made him who he was today. He would no longer have to battle the beast within him to gain control of his body. "But... There is only one celestial being..." Warwick stammered to speak.

"I see you have no idea who the others are," the Summoner said, "from my list here, there are at least two dozen celestial beings here. Would you like to see?

Warwick could only nod.

"Excellent, as for Thresh, I understand that you love to harvest souls, am I right?"

"I swear, I can see you smile underneath your hood, Summoner," Thresh said.

"And I see that you grinned to my offer," Rokt replied, "remember all the souls you've harvested from the minions and champions in the Rift? I'm sure you were keeping count of them."

Thresh was now listening to the offer intently, "I did. Why?"

"I will give them all to you."

Thresh's lantern began to shake as if it were living and excited. "I will give this offer some thought, Summoner," Thresh said with a hint of glee.

"Glad to hear it. Next is Twisted Fate." Rokt snapped his fingers and a file with Twisted Fates's name showed on the screen. "This is your debt; the debt you owed to save your family."

Everyone saw the numbers and looked at the Card Master for some answers.

"Look y'all, this is none of your business," TF pulled his hat down to hide his eyes, "and it certainly ain't none of yours Rokt."

"Calm down Fate," Rokt's figure appeared on the lower left corner of the screen, "and look what I can do." The Summoner started to type on a keyboard of some sort and reduced the total number by one digit.

TF instantly checked his personal mobile phone to see if his debt had actually changed. He opened a page and saw that there was a missing number in his total debt. He put the phone down and tipped his hat. "With the stakes this high, I'll have to go all in on this one."

Laughter came from the television screen. "Jinx my dear, how are you?"

Jinx crossed her arms underneath her chest. "Yeah, yeah, what'cha gonna give me?"

"Would you like a lower sentence?" Rokt offered.

"No thanks Hoodie, I'm happy with my two life sentences," Jinx replied while turning away from the screen.

"Well then, I guess your sister would be rather sad about that now wouldn't she?"

Jinx's eyes widened. "I don't know what you're talking about," she said with a neutral expression.

"I can tell you where she is," the purple figure said.

Jinx walked up to the television screen and glared at the Summoner.

"Prove to me that you know who you're talking about," Jinx said, "if not, then blow me up."

The television screen flickered to a different image, but Jinx was blocking majority of the screen, so only she could see the figure.

"Jinx has a sister?" Malphite whispered to Thresh.

"Apparently," the spectre replied, "but I thought she was joking."

"Hoodie, you've got yourself a deal!" Jinx said with a happier expression.

The screen faded back to the Summoner's figure. "I knew you would."

Jinx skipped back to the rest of the gang and gestured to Malphite, "it's your turn Rocky."

Malphite only grunted. "What can he offer me?"

Rokt pressed a button and the television produced a small object from its side. "A family reunion," he said.

Malphite approached the object and picked it up.

"What'cha see Fancy Pants?" Jinx asked.

"Looks like a pebble," Fate said.

"I understand that you know what this is?" Rokt asked.

Malphite took the tiny pebble and placed it next to his chest. "Home," he said.

"I can bring you back," the Summoner offered.

"I...I don't believe you," Malphite stuttered.

"Is that object not proof that I can send you home?"

Malphite thought about this. For the longest time, he thought that there was no way to go back to the Monolith. But here it is. A familiar feeling resonated from the tiny piece was slowly convincing him that there in fact was a way back to the Monolith.

"Are you sure?" he asked.

The hooded summoner nodded.

Malphite absorbed the piece into his body and nodded back to the screen.

"Very well then, four out of five have said yes. Thresh, what's your decision?" Rokt asked the Chain Warden.

"I shall participate in this mission," Thresh smiled.

Rokt clapped his hands with excitement. "Excellent. So, destroy the generator with minimal casualties and you all will be rewarded. Fail, and goodbye."

"Ugh," Warwick said in frustration, "minimal casualties? That's no fun."

"Minimal casualties," the giant stressed to the wolf.

"As much as it pains me to not harvest some souls temporarily," Thresh said with dismay, "the reward will be _very_ worth it."

"I will be assigning you all a leader," Rokt continued, "and the leader is going to be... Jinx."

"YES!" Jinx squealed while the others groaned.

"She has the best knowledge of Piltover amongst the rest of you, so it would be wise to let her be the head of this operation."

"You can't possibly be serious!" Warwick argued.

"I am," the Summoner said, "now, this warehouse is yours. You'll find some useful equipment behind you. Get to know one another, discuss amongst yourselves on how to get rid of the generator, and have a good night. And remember: I'm _always_ watching you."

* * *

**Any feedback would be great! Have a nice day!**


	3. A little heart to heart

**Author's Note**

**Hey everyone! Here's the next chapter! It's pretty long since I got to touch upon some lore and my take on the background of some characters. Just to restate this, I do not own any of these characters; they all belong to Riot Games.**

**Enjoy the read!**

* * *

**Chapter 3: A little heart-to-heart**

~Warehouse~

"Thing. Thing. Smaller thing," Malphite said as he picked up the various equipment on a wide desk. When the five explored the warehouse a bit more, they found that it was pretty abandoned. The crates were pretty empty except for some which contained a variety of things such as canned meals, paper, markers, paint, stuffed toys, and many more.

"Uh, that's an earpiece Malph," Fate said to the seven foot tall champion. "You're pretty low tech, aren't ya?"

The Shard of the Monolith sighed, "your world is in such a rush. You want to improve so many things in the shortest amount of time."

"OH MY GOD!" Jinx screamed with glee. "Pow-pow! Fishbones! I missed you guys!" Jinx found her beloved pink and blue weapons and skipped back towards the group.

"Oh no," Thresh groaned, "she's going to do her thing again."

"What thing?" Warwick asked.

Jinx then put Fishbones on her shoulder and began opening and closing his mouth. "Oh Jinx!," Jinx said in her Fishbone voice, "we missed you too!"

"Oh. That thing," Warwick said.

"I don't find it annoying," the gambler said. "To be honest, it's quite amusing."

"Dear Fate," Thresh began with a hint of irritancy, "how long have you spent in the bottom lane with her as your partner? And how long do you think I have spent with her?"

Twisted Fate put this into perspective and looked at Jinx frolicking about talking to her guns, and the guns "talking" back to her. "... I can see what you mean," he said as he tipped his hat to Thresh.

"Your sympathy is not needed," Thresh curtly replied.

"Hey Match Stick! Fishbones misses you too! And you! And you! And..." Jinx continued as she pointed her rocket launcher to each and every member of the group.

"... but it is... appreciated," Thresh said in defeat.

"Alright already," Warwick growled, "what the hell are we going to do now?"

"Let's ask Jinx," Malphite suggested.

"Uh, Malph, you sure about that?" Twisted Fate asked.

Malphite looked at the Loose Cannon and saw that she was talking to her weapons about the generator and the operation. "Well... Rokt said that she was the leader."

"And I say, NO!" Warwick shouted. "I'm not risking two dozen celestial hearts with her in charge!"

"Neither am I with all those delicious souls," Thresh agreed.

"Hey, maybe we should at least hear her out," the Cardmaster said. "I mean, she knows Piltover like the back of her hand."

"And are YOU going to risk it? Huh?! YOU with your debt, and YOU with your homeland?!" Warwick snarled at the two champions.

Amidst the silence, they could hear "Fishbones" talking to Jinx about watching the television for the news channel.

"I trust her." Malphite replied.

"Oh yeah? Why?" Warwick asked.

"Because she's doing this for her sister," the giant said.

"Does she even have a family?!" Warwick complained. "Thresh, do you know?"

"I cannot confirm or deny whether or not she does have a sister," the spectre said.

"Calm down Warwick," Fate interrupted, "we will find a way to get rid of the generator and get our reward without dying, alright?"

"I know genius!" Warwick was furious, "so what's the plan?!"

"Oh oh!" Jinx eagerly said while carrying a box, "I've got a plan! Fishbones too!"

"For the love of-" before the Blood Hunter could continue, Malphite stomped his foot on the ground, producing a small quake.

"Yes," the rock giant said, "what's your plan?"

"YES!" Jinx squealed with joy as she dropped the box onto the table. "Alright everyone! Get seated!"

The four other champions sat down while the spectre and wolf gave off a small groan.

"As you know," Jinx started as she got some crayons and a piece of paper, "we must destroy the generator thingy so that we can go home with big smiles as we walk away from big and cool explosions!" She produced a small paper which outlined her plan. In that paper, there was Malphite who was a big brown circle with lines for hands and feet, Thresh who was drawn as a green match stick, Twisted Fate who was a regular stick figure with a hat and pants, Warwick who was reduced into a cute puppy, and Jinx with her weapons. All of them were drawn with smiling faces, and there were arrows and names to show who were who, and there was also a bright red explosion in the background.

Everyone except for Warwick was amused with the little drawing. "Kill me now..." Warwick whispered.

Fate lost it when he saw the drawing. "HAHAHA! You were literally a match stick!" he said as he laughed at Thresh.

"Well, at least I'm not a giant, brown, blob, like Malphite!" the warden laughed as well. Even Malphite chuckled at the drawing.

"Glad to see everyone agreeing with me! Now, here's the plan," Jinx motioned everyone to huddle up closer to her. "It's simple: we blow up Heim's lab."

The thought was received with mixed reactions. For one, Warwick slammed his head on the table a couple of times, Twisted Fate was in disbelief, Malphite didn't like the plan, while Thresh thought that it could work.

Jinx then started to move her rocket launcher's mouth. "I think it's my turn to tell my plan, Jinx!" Fishbones said. "Okay," Jinx smiled, "but I doubt it's any better than my plan!"

Jinx then motioned Fishbones as if he's an actual sentient being. He stuck his face into the box and produced a blueprint paper. He bit onto a white pencil, and he (Jinx was the one moving him) began drawing.

At this point, only Malphite was looking at Fishbones draw because the others started thinking of their own ideas on how to destroy the generator.

"Okay, we're going to need an army. Thresh, can you summon the dead?" Warwick asked.

"I am a warden, not a necromancer," Thresh replied.

"I've got a plan," Fate stated.

"Don't tell me, you're going to throw cards?" Warwick joked.

"What are you talking about? That's stupid!" Fate said defensively.

"Oh, my bad," the wolf corrected himself. "You're going to throw _LOTS_ of cards?"

Before Twisted Fate could throw LOTS of stun cards at Warwick's face, Malphite spoke, "Fishbones's done!"

Everyone looked back at the direction of girl with the rocket launcher and they were dumbfounded.

In front of them, was a blueprint schematic of the first floor Piltover's Science Ring (PSR) and it's general structure. It was sketched with detail including the stairs, entrance, and exits. The three champions earlier looked at Jinx and Fishbones while Malphite clapped his big rocky hands three times, which produced a little dust due to the force.

Fishbones placed the pencil on the table and Jinx continued to speak in her launcher's voice, "okay, so this is the PSR based on my memory when we went in to cause a violent stir, which I am still against doing ever again," Fishbones sort of "glared" at Jinx as if the object meant it, "the PSR is one of the most well-guarded facility in all of Piltover. Fit with the latest in technology because all of their security equipment was produced there. Before I continue with the details, are there any questions?"

"Yeah, how on earth did you do that?!" Warwick demanded. "First, you gave us a crappy crayon drawing, and now you drew a detailed schematic of the PSR?!"

"Hey Wolfboy," Jinx said in her regular voice, "first of all, it was an AWESOME drawing, second of all, it was Fishbones who drew the PSR thingo."

Warwick was enraged, not just because she gave him a nickname, but also because he was being led to believe that Jinx and Fishbones were two separate entities. "BUT YOU ARE FISHBONES!"

"Hey, hey, there's no need to shout or fight," Fishbones said, "let me expla-"

"You're driving me crazy!" Warwick howled, "you're insane! Hell, you have some sort of multiple personality disorder or something!"

Thresh took the hint and prepared his hook and lantern just in case the wolf lunges for Jinx. Twisted Fate readied a stun card, and Malphite prepared his fist.

"QUIET!" Jinx shouted.

Everyone did as commanded. The tiny girl gave off a heavy sigh and everyone felt as if she suddenly changed of some sorts.

"Raise-," she began, "raise your hand if you think I'm crazy. Come on, don't be shy. Up up up."

Everyone raised their hands.

"Now raise your hands if you think I'm insane."

Only Warwick raised his.

Jinx then brought her hand back to Fishbone's jaw. "I'll do the talking for now." Jinx said in her Fishbone's voice. "Jinx may seem crazy, but that's because she has a... condition. I shall assume you know a little bit of psychology? The concept of id, ego, and super ego?"

Everyone nodded. Malphite just nodded along with them.

"Long story short," Fishbones continued, "Jinx is the id, which is the one who acts upon impulse. I, Fishbones, am the embodiment of her ego, who tends to focus on reality and logical thinking. Pow-pow is the superego, who is her voice for guidance, kind of like her conscience."

The amount of shock was just a bit too much for the rest to comprehend. On one hand, they now know that she's crazy, and on the other, they know that she's not _that_ crazy.

"The reason why Pow-pow never speaks is-" Jinx put her hand on Fishbone's mouth to stop him from talking.

"Shush you dumb rocket launcher!" she said in her normal voice.

"But Jinx! They ought to know!" Fishbones voiced.

"No more information exploitation!" Jinx replied. "Save the stories for later." Clearly, she did not want to talk any further. "Listen guys, don't get me wrong, I am crazy; I have a doctor's note, see?" She pulled out a tiny piece of paper that read "Jinx is crazy. Signed by Doctor X." "But the thing is, everyone's crazy! I'm. Just. Joining. The fun." she smiled.

The four champions looked at each other and they had nothing to say; they were utterly speechless.

"Great!" Jinx continued. "Now, who votes for my awesome plan?!" Jinx immediately raised her hand, and to add some effect, she raised both her hands.

Among the four others, only Thresh raised his hand, which left the others in dismay. "What?! It's a viable plan," he defended.

"Awesome Match Stick! Now who votes for Fishbone's plan?" Jinx asked.

"I do!" the little shark said.

"You can't vote. You don't have arms." Jinx sneered.

"But you voted fo-" Fishbones was interrupted by Jinx once more. "Shut up you stupid rocket launcher."

"Uh," Twisted Fate began. "You- I mean, Fishbones hasn't said his plan."

"Yeah," Malphite agreed. "He just drew a picture."

"Ugh, fiiiiiiiiiiiine," Jinx whined. She put her hand on Fishbone's mouth once more and began to talk. "Like any good plan, it would be best to hear everyone's capabilities before we actually make a plan. You know, get to know each other's strengths and weaknesses."

Everyone agreed since it was a logical argument.

"As you know," Fishbones continued, "in Summoner's Rift, or in any games that we play, we are... constrained to certain limitations. Some of which makes no sense."

"Like Fizz dodging everything while standing on his pole?" Thresh asked.

"No, no," Fishbones continued, "that makes total sense."

Everyone else agreed and nodded while Thresh was seriously left wondering if they were joking or not.

"More like how Nautilus and I appear as giants, but get reduced in size during the matches," Malphite began.

"Yeah, or like how Nami can heal Brand with water," Warwick said. "Lee Sin, who's already blind, can be blinded once more. Really, the list goes on."

"Agreed," Fishbones said, "so what are your _actual_ skills?"

Malphite went first. "As you know, I'm not usually this small. I get reduced for the league matches. But instead of being humiliated, I deform myself instead of being shrunk like Nautilus." As he said that, Malphite suddenly reduced in size to about the size of a golf ball by removing excess parts of rock from his body. Then, he suddenly absorbed more earth and increased his size to around ten feet. "Tah dah," Malphite said as he shrunk back down to his "normal" size. "As long as I can absorb any solid surface, I can grow or replace my body structure."

Everyone was speechless, except for Jinx who applauded Malphite for his impressive display.

"Okay, I'm next!" Jinx said. "Okay, so aside from being a total badass and an internet sensation when I released my video, I took voice lessons!"

"Wait, wait," Fate interrupted, "voice lessons?"

Jinx coughed a little bit and concentrated, "_wait, wait, voice lessons_?" she said perfectly in the Cardmaster's voice. Twisted Fate suddenly lost the capability of talking.

"Daaaaaamn," Warwick said, "she did!"

"Thank you, thank you," Jinx said in her regular voice, "is there anything else you'd like to know?"

"Yeah," Thresh said, "ARE YOU ALL KIDDING ME? EXPLAIN TO ME HOW FIZZ MANAGES TO-" Before Thresh could finish, everyone else bust in laughter. It didn't take long before Thresh realised that he'd been duped. "You people are _so_ going to be my toys if every anyone of you die."

"Come on now Thresh," Twisted Fate smiled, "that fish was supposed to be dead and deep fried by now!"

"Okay, alright everybody, enough laughter," Jinx said after she regained her composure, "seriously though, any questions?"

"Is there anything else you can do?" Thresh asked.

"She also has an IQ of 200," Fishbones said.

"No I don't stupid fish," Jinx objected, "YOU took that test. I gave up on it after filling my name, so I let you answer it for me!"

"Okay," Fate whispered to Thresh, "I'm both very impressed, and creeped out right now.

"Your turn Fancy Pants!" Jinx said as she pointed to the gambler.

"Ahem," Fate said, "aside from being an expert card thrower, I can infuse any object with the power to stun, give me energy, and cause a small area slow and damage. I can teleport, and I am an expert forger."

"Great!" Warwick exclaimed, "the chances of this operation working has increased! You can teleport us in, teleport us out, then we're done."

"Hold on a minute," Twisted Fate said, "there's a common misconception regarding my teleportation abilities. I can't teleport to anywhere I want."

The remaining champions were taken aback. They have always expected Twisted Fate to be the best escape artist in the entire world because of his teleportation powers. "What do you mean?" Malphite asked.

Fate sighed, "I can teleport, as long as I see my destination. For cases like Bilgewater or the Rift, places which I have walked around and explored every corner countless of times, I can do it by will, but it takes more energy and concentration. Additionally, I would advise you all not to teleport with me. Not that it's impossible, but I once tested my ability by grabbing the wings of a chicken and teleporting to a location. When I teleported, I brought the chicken wings with me... just the wings."

There was a moment of silence after Fate spoke those last words. A sudden chill was present in the air.

"So yeah," Twisted Fate continued to break the silence, "as long as I have small objects contained within me or against me, like my clothes and my cards in my pocket, I can teleport with no accidents."

When he was finished, the only one who did anything was Thresh, and all he did was clap slowly a couple of times.

"Bravo?" Thresh didn't really know how to react to the given information. On one hand, he would never see the day where he would hug Fate for a teleport service, but on the other, it was rather... amusing.

"Well, I guess it's my turn," Warwick snarled, "I can't have you all dead silent."

"You all know my skills," the wolf began, "but what the stupid League tells me to not do is to hinder my senses. I have very, _very_, acute senses. I know where anybody and everybody is based on their scent," Warwick licked his lips in a manner so similar to a predator to its prey, "nobody should be able to sneak up on me, and I never forget anyone's scent. To keep things short, thanks to the beast within me, I am perfect for stealth and assassination operations."

Jinx let out a long and smooth whistle, "so basically, Wolf Boy, you're pretty much the same, it's just that you can sniff and hear better?"

The wolf growled back at the girl, "I can hunt anyone down before anyone can find me. The League made me use half of my potential in matches because it would be too unfair to have a permanent vision of everyone before the match even starts."

Twisted Fate applauded his ally, "and I thought I was unfair with all the teleporting around the rift."

"Bah," the wolf scoffed, "teleport all you want, I have your scent, I can track you anywhere."

Everyone was indeed impressed, and all eyes then turned to Thresh and waited for his turn. They were curious after all, as to what the resident of the Shadow Isles can do.

"Save the best for last I suppose?" Thresh brought up his lantern close to his face to radiate his green glow even more. "I am the Chain Warden. I am the reaper of vile, tormented souls of this land. Aside from the skills you've all seen me display in the League, I have another ability: soul reading."

"So you can read people's minds?" Malphite asked.

Thresh face-palmed himself. "Clearly, I said that I read people's souls. So obviously, the first thing that goes straight to all of your heads is mind reading." The warden sighed. "Soul reading is different from mind reading." He brought up his lantern and glowing green wisps danced around the object. "Though the mind holds the thoughts of man, it is the soul that wills it." Thresh grabbed one soul from the floating lantern and played with it like a coin on his hand. "The mind can lie, but the soul never wavers." He then tossed the soul back into the lantern and then it descended back to the table.

"Spooky," Warwick mentioned.

"What makes me scary, wolf?" Thresh asked. "I still don't understand why many people fear my presence."

"Well Match Stick," Jinx said, "you torture people and eat their souls, which looks cool by the way."

"Ah, is that so?" Thresh shook his head; he was disappointed. "How simpleminded you all are." He shook his lantern and it coughed up one soul. "Do you know who this soul belonged to?"

Nobody said anything.

"This was a rapist who would slaughter her victims. Yes, it was a she, by the way. I tortured her so much that all she could manage to whisper was 'sanctuary.' I think I broke her."

He then pulled out another. "Guess who this was?"

Once again, nobody could muster up the strength to do anything.

"This old man stood atop of piles of wealth, while crushing family after family to keep his fortune. I lashed at him with my scythe for every cent he had. It took about three straight weeks."

"And look here, what do you all see?" He stretched out his hand and he held... nothing.

"My lantern only holds the souls of the guilty," Thresh said with enthusiasm, "I was a prison warden, remember? Who do you think they send to prison? But I guess in today's age, everyone is guilty." The green reaper let out a hearty laugh. "Are you all one-dimensional? Do you think I just want to take and torture anyone I see?"

Thresh brought out his scythe and waved it around like a toy. "Death Sentence. I launch my hook, and if it lands, I have the option to tug away my victim, or to go straight to him. But who do I sentence to death? Anyone? Or the ones who threaten my team?" He then allowed his lantern do dance in the air, and the green glow brightened even more. "Dark Passage. I toss my lantern, and to whoever GODDAMN GRABS IT, is saved. It does not bring people to the dark; it is a passage way out of a dark situation."

The warden placed his weapons back to his side and then put his hands together. "If I were this... menacing... violent... and sadistic being, then why have I pledged my role as a 'support' in the League of Legends?"

Silence fell across the warehouse once more.

"So," Malphite questioned, "you're a good guy?"

"I do not know," Thresh said with a sigh, "I still enjoy torturing the guilty and damned, but last I heard, that was against 'human rights.' However, can you condemn a reaper who pleasures from torturing souls?"

Thresh's voice echoed throughout the warehouse. Everyone else suddenly had this new perspective of the Chain Warden. To them, he was no longer a crazed soul collector, but rather, a... respectable ally.

But...

"Why then," Warwick asked, "do you absorb souls? And what happened, to Lucian's wife?"

"Ah, I knew this topic would come up sooner or later," Thresh shook his head, "before I continue, you all should share as to why you're so keen to the 'rewards' Rokt has offered you all."

Malphite nodded, then Fate, and then Warwick.

"Nope," Jinx covered her ears with her hands and said, "I'm not sharing, so I won't listen, m'kay?"

"Little miss," Fate put one hand on her shoulder, hoping to comfort the girl, "it's going to be alright."

Jinx looked at the Cardmaster, then to the Shard, then to the Bloodhunter, then finally, to the Chain Warden. "Argh," the Loose Cannon put her hands down and got Fishbones up to her shoulder, "I won't say anything. Fishbones will," she then turned to her own launcher and threatened Fishbones, "you be careful of your words mister." Fishbones then nodded.

"Well then," the warded sounded very amused, "since we're all in agreement, I shall continue." Thresh brought back his lantern and spoke, "just like a sword and shield, my scythe and lantern are both a weapon and a means for defence. Souls give me armour, and the strength to fight. Believe it or not, I need more souls because whenever I summon 'The Box' I use the souls I have harvested, which means, I get weaker every time I fight." The spectre sounded dark, and sad, "not a lot of people go to the Shadow Isles anymore, so supplies have... dwindled. If I can absorb the excess souls of the minions that have not yet been used during the matches, then all would be good."

"Wait," Malphite said, "so the little ones carry souls?"

"Not exactly," Thresh said, "they have some sort of 'pseudo-soul' and I believe that's why they are able to mass produced them. A 'pseudo-soul' may not be as good or delicious as a real one, but eh, five of them would have the same effect. Okay, I'm done, so you're next Fate."

The Cardmaster tipped his hat towards the group, "you've seen my debt. Pretty big numbers ain't it?" Twisted Fate laughed, "bet'cha didn't know this, but I was a momma's boy, and all twelve of us loved our mom."

Warwick's jaw dropped, "twelve?!"

"Yeah, twelve," Fate continued, "but Momma managed to take care of us. We were poor, but we were happy. But one day, momma was acting weird. She started coughing a lot, and she slowly lost the strength to stand. As the eldest, I begged the local doctor to come see her, and what he said was bad news." Twisted Fate's voice suddenly grew soft, "she has contracted a very, _very_, bad disease. But it was curable through surgery... if you had the money for it, but the chance of success was about ten percent. Momma told us to be strong, and that I should be the one to look after my siblings from now on, but I just couldn't..."

The Cardmaster rubbed something from his face, "I took a loan. Lots of loans. Just so that we could let her live. But she- she didn't make it. We were poor, hungry, and had a large debt to pay. I tried my best to pay the debt, but I was helpless. I managed to hide my siblings from my debtors, and I myself tried to repay the debt. I had no effect whatsoever until I got my powers and joined the League."

"Wow Fancy Pants," Jinx said with concern, "how's the family?"

"My brothers and sisters are doing fine," he said, "I'm the only one being chased. I send them money every time I have the chance to. Hell, I plan to at least bring the next two eldest ones to college."

Malphite looked very pleased, "family is very important." The giant put his big hand on his chest, the place where he put the little pebble from his home world, "I'm doing this to go back home. At the Monolith, everyone had peace. If someone lacked something, we shared. If someone was hurt, we helped."

"What's the Monolith like?" Thresh asked.

The Shard closed his eyes and recollected his thoughts. "we are what you may categorise as a hive. We have a beautiful and just queen. We have clever foragers. We also have caring citizens. No conflict. Only peace."

"So... Rocky's world has a lot of rocks?" Jinx joked.

"We are... peaceful rocks," the giant said, "the concept of violence was not introduced to our world. You can imagine my reaction when I first was brought here. There was so much anger and rage. But I learned that your world is different than mine. You all seek violence, and by doing so, you find peace."

"Hmph, poetic," Warwick snarled, "we practically have two people who're doing this for family, and one for his precious home world. Looks like I'm the only selfish one."

Warwick began to tap his sharp claws on top of the table, "the reason why I've been trying to kill Soraka all these years is so that I can gut out her heart."

"Ouch," the Cardmaster said, "harsh, aren't ya?"

"LIKE I CARE!" the wolf shouted.

Everyone hushed, and Warwick soon regained his composure. "The beast within me... it's trying to take control of my body."

"Wait a second," the warden asked, "you have no control of your animal side?"

"THE POTION WAS INCOMPLETE!" the wolf shouted once more. "Because the Star Child escaped, I took Singed's incomplete potion without hesitation. I've become who I am today because of that potion, but I was not expecting the side-effects! Occasionally, I ave managed to keep the beast down, but I fear that one day, it _will_ take over me."

"So how..." Malphite asked, "how do you keep it down?"

"To quell the beast, sometimes I have to go on a killing spree," Warwick growled, "and satisfy both our hungers. Sometimes, when it gets too strong, I have to take a brew Singed showed me. If not, it's only a matter of time. THAT'S WHY I NEED THAT LIST!"

The wolf was enraged, and everyone had their guard up just in case this would be one of his "episodes."

"Hahaha," the wolf was amused, laughing even, "I'm just having a little fun with you all."

"I guess it's my turn," Fishbones said. All eyes then turned to the launcher on Jinx's shoulder. "I can't say much, but I believe I'm allowed to say only two things. One, I was made by Jinx, while Pow-Pow was made by her sister. Second is that Jinx is looking for her sister."

"So," Twisted Fate said, "she does have a sister?"

"Yes, she does," the launcher replied, "she may not say it, but she mi-" before Fishbones could finish, Jinx closed his mouth almost immediately. "Shut it Fishbones! My sister is crazier than me! She's all 'Jinx, are you okay?' or 'Jinx, let me help you.' I know, crazy right? Hahahahaha!"

Jinx laughed for a while, and the others allowed her to do it. Something appeared on Jinx's eye. Was is a tear? Was she crying out of laughter? Or sadness? Everyone didn't say anything. Jinx said enough earlier and now to give an overall conclusion to the group. She wasn't crazy; she just misses her sister.

When she had enough laughter, Thresh asked everyone to take their seats. "Well done, well done everyone, I feel as if we've gotten a little closer now." Thresh then fixed his composure to prepare himself for what he was about to say, "now, as for Senna..."

Everyone hushed, which created an atmosphere of seriousness and curiosity.

"Till this day," he began, "nobody else but I am alive to tell the tale of what actually happened."

"So, Lucian didn't see what happened?" Warwick asked.

The Chain Warden shook his head, "he was busy with a horde of undead while his wife was pursuing me." He looked up, deep in thought, "those two... it has been a long time since I've felt fear. They were really trying to kill me. Unfortunately, there was an accident..."

* * *

~The Shadow Isles~

Thresh recalled that one dark afternoon in the Shadow Isles. How badly injured he was. How fast he ran into the cavern, and how much faster Senna ran. He had his hand on his chest, panting and scared because for once in his life, he thought about dying. He didn't think it would be possible, but the woman with the runic pistol running behind was surely going to prove it. Without noticing, he fell into a pit, and as he tumbled and rolled into its depths, his pursuer chased after him.

"This pit..." Thresh coughed, "I know this..."

"Nowhere to run, wretched scum," a tall, dark-skinned woman said. The woman pointed her runic weapon onto the warden's face, but before she could execute the kill, something grabbed her.

"Vilemaw!" Thresh shouted.

The gigantic spider grabbed Senna and roared at her face, and the woman fired at the monster. Unfortunately for her, she was against a god.

Thresh managed to regain enough strength to stand. He surveyed the area, looking for an exit, because only Elise can communicate and seek peace from the spider god; he would only be next on the menu. Thresh only saw one way out, and it was from the very hole he fell in.

He threw his hook upwards and managed to get a grip on one of the rocks above. Quickly, he rushed to climb out of the hellhole he fell into. Each movement, was as painful as the last, but somehow, someway, he barely made it to the top.

Gasping for breath, he felt the sudden rush of success, but it took a turn when he looked back below. Although Senna managed to annoy Vilemaw with her runic weapon, all the god needed to do was slam her into a pointed spike. The woman coughed up blood as she saw the spike pierced through her stomach, but even as she was dying, she still had enough strength to shoot a couple of rounds back. Vilemaw grew tired of this annoyance, and so he picked up the woman once more and opened his mouth wide.

"NO!"

Thresh lashed out against the spider god with his hook and managed to hit one of its many eyes. The monster screamed in peril, roaring over and over again.

Then the warden didn't know what to do. He had a scythe that was a weapon, which he used to grab on to things, but he had no other means to rescue anyone. So Thresh did the only thing he could do: he threw down his lantern, and the green object floated near Senna. "Take the lantern!" he yelled.

Senna hesitated to grab the eerie ornament out of fear. "JUST TAKE THE DAMN LANTERN ALREADY!" Thresh screamed once more.

With her last remaining strength, she grabbed the lantern with her one good hand, and then the spectre pulled with all his might. Vilemaw, still in a daze, let go of his grip, and Senna was pulled away from the pit. As Thresh pulled her out of the cavern they went into, he could hear the woman cough up more blood. When they finally got out of Vilemaw's cavern, the warden fell on his back, exhausted from the events which have transpired.

As he slowly recovered, he heard a voice.

"Never-" Senna said, "never... have I thought... that you... of all-" she coughed some more blood.

Thresh went to her side and saw the damage done by the creature. It was...

"Senna? SENNA?!" Lucian's voice can be heard from a distance, and it was getting closer.

"Monster..." Senna was speaking softer now, "why... did you save me?"

Thresh could not respond. She was the enemy. He was the target. He could have left her to die, and yet...

"Heh," the woman said, "looks like... I was wrong... about-" Senna coughed up more blood. A lot more.

"Save your strength," the warden said. But he knew very well that she didn't have long.

"My husband," her eyes were slowly closing and opening now, "he's a bit... weak-willed... and sometimes a coward... if anything... happens to him... you've got to answer... to me... got that?"

Thresh nodded. Was he crazy? He was now making a vow to the woman who was hunting him down, to watch over her husband, who will most likely hunt him down until the end of time.

Senna sighed with relief and managed to smile, "you have... my thanks... Thresh..."

A green wisp emerged from Senna's chest and it floated above her. The spectre rose to his feet and looked back down at the woman. All he could feel, was sorrow.

As he allowed his lantern to absorb the soul, a massive shout came from the side, "SENNA?! YOU BASTARD!" Lucian was firing rapidly towards Thresh's direction, but due to his grief, he kept on missing.

Thresh, battered and bruised, limped across the field, and the only sound behind him was a man crying out to his beloved, "SEEEEEEEENNAAAAAAAAAAAAA!"

* * *

~Warehouse~

Once Thresh finished his story, everyone's jaws dropped. Jinx even pushed down Fishbone's mouth. The glowing spectre reached for his lantern and brought it to his face. "I didn't know that I had the ability to save people with this lantern until that day. Heh, even the afterlife is full of surprises. Her souls is still here in this lantern; I couldn't just let it fade."

"Damn Thresh," Fate broke the silence, "I-I don't know what to say."

"Same here," Jinx agreed, "Match Stick, I now have a newfound respect for you."

"Does the Purifier know about this?" Malphite asked.

Thresh shook his head. "He doesn't. But look at how far he's come. He's become one of the most powerful champions in the League. He has led dedicated armies towards the Shadow Isles to purify it." He then looked at his lantern, and a small wisp floated in front of him. "He has grown."

"So when are you going to tell him?" Warwick interrupted.

The little wisp went back into the lantern and the warden sighed, "I'll tell him, hm... I don't know. When the time is right."

Suddenly, the television screen flickered to life, and a familiar hooded figure was on screen.

"As much as I'd like to continue listening to you all," Rokt the Sixth said, "Heimerdinger's on the news channel. You all might want to see what's going on." With a snap of his fingers, the screen changed and Heimerdinger's small form was there, talking to Janna about his latest creation.

* * *

**Wow, that was long. I hope it was interesting enough that you guys didn't get bored from the length of the chapter. **

**For some time now, I was thinking of a suitable picture I could use for this story, and I was hoping that you guys would suggest some ideas; it would be very much appreciated. If not, I'm thinking of using Jinx's colour drawing for the heck of it.**

**As always, any feedback is very appreciated! Enjoy your day!**

**Review Corner!**

**Guest: Thanks for liking my story! I do hope that I met your expectations!**

**LeCrazyWaffle: Here you go! I usually try to upload a chapter every week, so just check every Thursday I guess. I don't have any plans for Janna... yet.**


	4. That 70's Fro

**Author's Note**

**So yeah, assessments have caught up on me and it has delayed my uploads by a week. Sorry about that. **

**This chapter's not that exciting, but the good news is that the next chapter will!**

**More good news! Since my assessments are all over and I have to make up for the delay, maybe by this weekend I'll be able to upload the next one!**

**I've gotten some responses from a few of you and I am very thankful for your comments. I take each and everyone to heart as I type the words of every chapter. I do hope that I still meet your expectations because I write not only for my enjoyment, but to yours as well.**

**Without further ado, here's a short chapter!**

* * *

**Chapter 4: That 70's 'Fro**

~Warehouse~

"And we are live in front of the Piltover Science Ring, which is more commonly known as the PSR, with professor Heimerdinger himself holding what seems to be the generator he spoke of in his last interview." Janna said as the screen broadcasted her figure in front of the PSR.

"He has a small thing," Malphite observed.

"Huh, that's the generator?" Twisted Fate asked, "I expected it to be bigger."

"He's a yordle," Warwick mentioned.

"And what does that have to do with the generator?" Thresh asked the wolf.

"Nothing. I'm just saying that he's a yordle."

"Shush you guys!" Jinx said as she tossed a popcorn into her mouth. "He's talking!"

"Okay," Warwick said, "hey, where did you get-"

"Greetings to all who are watching this," the blonde yordle in the television said, "in my hands is a 3D replica of the generator my colleagues and I have made. We have done some tests and we can conclude that there's only a little more experimentation needed until we can truly say that this generator will be able to power endless supply of energy."

"He's talking," the giant said. "Pass the popcorn."

"He's probably going to brag about the advances in technology since the Summoner's Era." Twisted Fate said as he passed the popcorn.

"Professor Heimerdinger," Janna said, "what was your inspiration for this device?"

"Dear Janna," Heim began, "as you may know, we currently have energy thanks to the wondrous help of the Summoners who have sought to provide what Runeterra needs: a means of livelihood. Thanks to them, cities have grown and began to unleash the hidden potentials of the mind, thus improving innovation and technology."

"Called it," Fate snickered.

"I wanted to continue their pursuit into giving energy to everyone, no matter their status," Heim continued, "I have seen the lives of those who do not have the basic energy necessities, and it is very heartbreaking; they do not even have the capacity to light a lamp to keep them safe at night."

Jinx brought out a hanky and sniffled, "oh this part always makes me cry"

"The hell?" Thresh inched a bit away from the overly-dramatic girl.

"So my goal was to find a way to not only produce efficient energy, but to also distribute it to all corners of the world." Heimerdinger raised the model generator above his head. "Not only have we found a way to increase the efficiency of a generator, but we happened to stumble upon a way to reduce electrical resistance to the point where it almost loses no energy at all. We used the various principles and theories of the great figureheads of-"

"Ugh," Fate sighed, "can we fast forward this thing?"

"Intriguing," Fishbones said, "he used the Varacos Algorithm to find the optimal electrical input on a Runerium mineral to reduce the amount of-"

Jinx motioned Fishbones to face the rest of the gang, and they all just stared at the launcher with mild annoyance.

"Um," Fishbones stuttered, "pass the popcorn?"

"A-and thank you Professor Heimerdinger for that, rich insight on the generator," Janna said as she struggled not to yawn in front of the camera, "I know you don't have a lot of time as usual, but I heard you're planning to hold an exclusive conference?"

"Indeed I am," the professor said, "it will be held tomorrow at the Piltover Needle in the evening."

"Thank you very much Professor Heimerdinger," Janna said, "now it's time for Runeterra News QnA! One lucky phone caller will have a chance to ask the professor himself a question live! So, who ever is the tenth caller, you'll be able to ask the esteemed Heimerdinger one valuable questions! Please note that questions should not be private or-"

"PASS ME A PHONE!" Jinx screamed.

"What? Why?" Twisted Fate asked.

"SHUT UP AND GIMME A PHONE!"

"Got none," Warwick said.

"Never owned one," Thresh said.

"Huh?" Malphite questioned.

"IT'S SO THAT I CAN ASK ON HOW TO BREAK IN HIS LAB!"

"Fine, fine, be quiet!" the Cardmaster said as he gave her his phone, "just don't break it."

"Thanks Fancy Pants!" Jinx said as she pressed the buttons flashed on the screen.

"Are you sure that you can be the tenth caller?" Thresh asked the Loose Cannon.

"Nope!" Jinx smiled.

"Three, two, one... Go!" Janna screamed with glee.

"Go now," Warwick suggested.

"Sorry, you're the first caller. Nope, sorry, you're not the one. Hello? No I'm-" Janna continued.

"I think now's good," Fate said as he heard Janna respond to a fourth caller.

"Nope, you're the fifth caller."

"Use the tiny thing now?" Malphite asked.

"Sixth caller"

"You better start now!" Thresh said with great intent.

To the rest of the gang, they were really stressing out on this little event, but Jinx kept her cool and raised one finger up in the air. "NOOOOOOW!" she screamed as she slammed her finger onto the call button.

"Sorry, you're the seventh caller. Eighth caller. Oh, too bad, you're the ninth caller! Hello?" Janna said to the tenth caller. "Who am I speaking to?"

Everyone's eyes were on Jinx who had the phone on her side.

"Hello?" Jinx said using a voice that sounded like a thirty year old man.

There were small cheers amongst the group as if they won the lottery.

"Yes sir," Janna said not knowing that she was actually talking to Jinx. "Who is this?"

"This is Groovy Greg, admirer of Big H's dance moves," Jinx said in her fake voice.

"What the hell is she doing?" Warwick whispered to Fate.

"I don't know, but I believe she knows what she's doing." Fate replied.

"Thank you Groovy Greg," Janna said, "who's this 'Big H' you speak of?"

"Oh girl," Jinx snickered, "Big H was one of the best disco dancers of all time! He would do all these flashing moves, head spins, and he even schools try-hards who aren't worthy of the dance floor."

"Who?" Malphite asked.

"Friend," Thresh said, "I'm just as clueless as you are."

"Big H, is the handsome gentleman next to you," Jinx said.

Heimerdinger at first didn't move, but then he stuttered, "I don't go by that name anymore."

The entire news broadcast team had their jaws drop. The channel's viewers suddenly doubled in number.

"But Big H man," Jinx continued, "you were a legend! You and your silky smooth afro, your roller-skate turret props, your disco ball stun, and let's not forget the laser show! Man, till this day, people are still trying to be half the dancer you are!"

"Well," Heim blushed, "I was the best."

"Yeah man," Jinx said, "so I wanted to ask ya if you still practice those groovy dance moves of yours! I heard that you even have a private dance room in the PSR!"

The team had mixed reactions. For one, nobody could believe that Heim was this 70's disco dancer with a suave afro and groovy glasses who head spins and throws disco balls to stun people.

"What the hell?!" Warwick whispered to Jinx. "I thought you were going to ask ab-" Jinx interrupted him by shushing him. She placed her hand to cover the receiver of the phone, smiled, and said, "just watch Wolf Boy."

The screen zoomed into Heim's embarrased face. "Well, my private lab can only be accessed by me because I programmed it to only open in my presence, and there are times when I get a little bored from work, b-but that doesn't mean that I spend my time doing such childish things such as dancing!"

"Aw, alright man," Jinx said on the phone, "but one day, I expect to see you on the roller ring busting out your moves ya hear?"

Heim thought for a moment, "maybe when I retire," he said smiling.

"And that's all for this caller event!" Janna said, "remember, you heard it first here that the professor said that he would return to his dancing origins when he retires! I'm sure that many of his fans are excited for his return. That's all for now, see you all tomorrow at the Piltover Needle!"

With that, the screen turned to a commercial about Gragas' bar and the amazing deals available at Happy Hour.

"What did that accomplish?" Malphite asked.

"When you're going to ask about a super secret impenetrable laboratory, you can't just ask about it directly!" Jinx gave back the phone to Twisted Fate, "you might want to get a new phone by the way 'cause they have your number."

She brought Fishbones up to her shoulder and let him do the talking, "the professor is no gullible fool who will just answer anyone, so the best way to get any info from someone is to flatter or embarrass them."

"So what you're saying is," Warwick said, "Heim... was actually a disco dancer?"

Jinx gave off a mischievous snicker, "when I first saw him do a head spin, I thought he was a dancer at first." She then shifted back to Fishbones, "upon researching, it turns out that before his first doctorate, he donned an afro and started to dance. Of course, this was during the days of disco, and he only had a career of about one year. Since then, he slowly became more known for his scientific achievements to the extent that his marvels outdid his old history."

"I... I still have a hard time believing you," Thresh admitted.

"Don't bother then Match Stick!" Jinx replied, "now let's get to the plan of blowing up his lab!"

The others began to listen intently, not only to hear Jinx's outrageous plan, which they might get a good laugh from, but to also listen to Fishbones.

"To blow up his lab," Jinx said as-a-matter-of-fact, "we're going to need a lot of hexplosives. Instead of bringing our own, we can just steal some from Zigg's room in the PSR. Then, we get into Heim's lab, and blow is sky high!"

There was a small applause because the gang wanted to amuse Jinx, but then a question came up.

"Wait," Thresh asked, "don't we need Heim to get into his lab? Why will he agree to let us in?"

"Oh," Jinx said in a softer voice, "right."

She then brought up Fishbones and continued in his voice, "that's a great idea Jinx, but mind if I add a little detail?"

"Sure Fishbones!" Jinx said cheerfully, "make me proud you lovable death machine!"

Now the others listened very carefully because they knew that the real plan was going down.

FIshbones grabbed a white pencil and a blueprint sheet once more and began to draw. On the earlier sheet was an image of the PSR's first floor, but on this new one was a bird's eye view of the facility. It was essentially a big circle with a smaller circle in the center. Once he finished, he put down the pencil and spoke, "the one thing that makes the PSR so impenetrable is that they have the ability to create a forcefield around the inner circle. The Outer Ring is where security is greatest because they have the technology to identify ANY weapon or potential weapon."

"Wow," Malphite said, "nice drawing."

"Thank you," FIshbones said with a bow, but then Jinx slapped him, "focus Fishbones! You gotta make my plan awesome!"

"So wait, how did you get in the center?" Warwick asked.

Jinx smiled, "I rode a rocket!"

The others groaned in disbelief.

"It was a modified rocket," Fishbones said, "Jinx restructured the rocket to disable the forcefield such that she had enough time to get in before it reformed."

"Yeah, good times," Jinx said, pleased with herself, "but I don't think it'll work again. They probably improved it. Bummer."

"Aw, it's okay Jinx," Fishbones tried to comfort her, "that's why we're making a new plan!"

"So what's the new plan?" the Cardmaster asked.

"Alright," FIshbones continued, "this is a two part plan. The first is to get Heim, and the second is to get him and us inside the Center. The forcefield is the major problem, but once we get around it, we will be fine. There are two ways to activate the forcefield, and that's if the security of the Outer Ring activates it, or if anyone with the right authority in the Center's Master Security Rooom activates it. So, here's the plan..."

* * *

**Thanks again for reading! ****As always, any feedback is very appreciated! Enjoy your day!**

**P.S. Yeah, the Heim thing was definitely out of character, but it was a skin concept I thought about before that made me laugh. So yeah...**


	5. Phase 1

**Author's Note:**

**Hey everyone! I'm still working on a proper and comfortable time on when to upload. ****So for now, I'll be uploading chapters around this time (early Thursday morning since I usually sleep by 12am... or later) before I go to bed.**

**So I guess I'll do a monthly thing where I reflect and all to see how far I've gotten. You can choose to scroll down and ignore this part 'cause it's pretty long.**

**To the 67 who have been with me since Chapter 1, go and celebrate because it's TFR's first month anniversary! Woooooooo! I personally never thought this would happen. 9 followers, 3 favourites, and 3 reviews. I am truly honoured because there're a lot other stories that are better than mine. Before I clicked the publish button, I was so scared to do it. There's a certain fear I guess for all the newbies who have no idea what lies down the path, but I guess it's kinda like life. Now, I don't really have a fear anymore when I post a chapter. So thanks! ^_^**

**So far, I have received positive comments, which feels great and all (thanks so much by the way), but I would like to know if there are any points for improvement. Given that 374 have clicked Ch1 and 67 for Ch4, it kinda says that I'm lacking something. I know that at times I seem like I want reviews by asking you guys to review, but I don't ask because I want a higher review count. I operate on feedback. The followers, "favouriters", and reviewers know that I PM them to ask for insight because I want to know where to improve or work on. So even if you don't like to review, a simple PM is fine. Whether it's to approve, flame, a simple "hi" or whatnot, I will take them all to heart.**

**For the positives, I've received that the chapters are funny and interesting, which is what I aim for. League is so much more than a game given its lore, and the fact that there's a fan fiction section about it allows people to dive into the story even more. Yes, my choice of characters are interesting and it surprises some people because they don't know how to react given how I portray a few like Jinx and Thresh. I chose the five because they have a set of skills, personality, and quirkiness that I find are fun. Plus, everyone's in a lane! Top, mid, bot, and jungle!**

**So I've heard a couple of comments saying that my chapters are too long, and I would like to say that they're long because if I cut the chapters any shorter, they would seem... incomplete. I'll try to work on making them shorter, but I don't know how that'll work ._. **

**So here's the latest chapter! I've been very excited to post this, and I've worked pretty hard on it since it's where some action finally takes place (no fights or anything, but something decent). So without further ado, here's the latest chapter and cheers to one month of writing! May there be many more to come!**

**(Fixed: regarding the issue of me forgetting why they need to get Heimer then bring him back.)**

* * *

**Chapter 5: Phase 1**

~Piltover Needle - First Floor~

The Piltover Needle was one of the great marvels of architecture. Made by the best engineers and architects, the tower was not only the tallest tower in Piltover, but also one of the most majestic buildings in Runeterra. It functioned both as a tourist attraction as well as a five star hotel.

The evening Professor Heimerdinger announced his conference in the Needle, hundreds of inquiries were received by the staff to the extent that it was almost fully booked for the day after. The schedule of the conference was to be held at eight in the evening, and a couple hours before it started, the press have already started to set up their equipment.

The reception was still busy organising the event, but they still had time to entertain their guests. It was then when a young, beautiful, and high esteemed lady walked through the main doors with her well-dressed companion and eyes were slowly turned to her direction. The young lady had flawless blonde hair flowing down her slender shoulder and a set of pearls laced around her neck along with a strange black collar of some sorts. She wore a sky blue gown and she had a stride that of a princess. Her companion was taller than her and wore a white suit with a rose above his left chest pocket. He was well groomed and wore gloves as he rolled two large suitcases on both sides.

The young lady approached the counter with her small purse, and in the absolute silence of the hallway, she spoke, "I would like to attend Sir Cecil Heimerdinger's conference please." She had an English accent that was light and soothing, and she wore a sweet and alluring scented perfume. The male receptionist could barely contain his awe in her presence because it was as if she took the word "elegance" and embodied that in her actions. Out of nervousness, he quickly looked down to the computer screen and checked if there were any seats left in the conference.

"Uh, um, madame, I'm afraid that there's no more seats available in today's conference," he stuttered.

The young girl pouted, "oh heavens no! This certainly will not do," she looked at her companion, "what are we to do? We traveled all this way just to listen to the great professor himself!"

Her companion took out a handkerchief from his pocket and gave it to the young girl.

The girl wept a bit and looked back at the receptionist, "is there nothing you can do..." she then looked at the man's name tag, "Oliver? Is there not?"

Oliver frantically typed and checked the computer's database to check and see if there's anything he can do. Although it was pretty much full, he noticed that there was one area he could insert a table in. "If you wouldn't mind miss..."

"Abigail," the young blonde replied, "Abigail Lauren"

Once she said her name, the few observers nearby began to search her name online. They found an article that said that she was born from a rich family and lived in a city called Allüra. She was a talented dancer and artist and she even entered a pristine school for ladies. She also had a degree in Hextech Development and is seeking a school in Piltover to work on her masters. Those who were bachelors have immediately taken an interest in this Abigail Lauren.

"Miss Lauren," the receptionist continued, "there is a table I can provide you, but it is the farthest from the podium."

"Oh Oliver," she began, "is there really, truly, nothing you can do to make a lady's day better?" She gave him a face that no human being could dismiss. Oliver's heart skipped a beat.

With a little typing, he spoke to the young girl one last time, "oh! There's one! And it's right in front of the podium next to the press!"

Abigail was astounded. "Oh thank you Oliver!" she clapped her hands with glee, "I knew you could do it! In the meantime, is there a room we can use before the conference starts? Maybe even a floor below the conference hall?"

"Yes madame," Oliver said as he prepared a room for her, "will you pay in cash?"

"Here," her companion said as he handed him a card.

Young Oliver checked it and to his surprise, it was a Debonair Card, which meant that the holder was really, definitely, loaded.

"T-thank you Mister..."

"Faust. Theodore Faust," the young man sternly replied.

"Y-yes," Oliver continued. He typed the final information in his computer and gave the key to the young lady. Before she took the key from his hand, she gently and gracefully touched his hand with hers and slowly pulled her fingers across his before taking the key from his grasp.

"Thank you, Oliver," she winked.

When she left the counter with her companion, all the eyes of the onlookers went to a variety of objects. They strangely found the ceiling to be very admirable, the floor so clean, and the potted plants to be well taken care of. Once the duo entered the elevator and proceeded to go up, the counter was flooded with people asking the receptionist where her room was. However, poor Oliver, flushed with emotion, was found faint on the floor.

* * *

~Piltover Needle - Room 733~

When Miss Abigail Lauren and Mister Theodore Faust entered their room, they immediately locked the door and returned to their usual selves.

"You," Twisted Fate said slyly, "are a very dangerous girl. You know that right?"

"And you, 'Theodore,' can't do anything about it," Jinx said with a smile.

"Damn, I knew you could pull it off," Warwick said in the earpiece, "but you didn't have to go all out."

Jinx then pulled back her hair, which revealed a hidden earpiece with Warwick's voice in it.

"Gotta go guns blazing, Wolf Boy!" Jinx said as she took of her blonde wig.

"Poor Oliver. You know, an act like that could net you a place in the show business, little miss," the gambler commented as he wore his earpiece.

"Why use skills like these in a play, when I can do it in real life?" Jinx snickered.

"Ugh, I tire of this patience." Thresh said on the other line of the communicator, "I want this to be done and over with."

"Chill Thresh, you know the plan," Twisted Fate said as he knelt down and unlocked the suitcases, "oh yeah, can't forget about you little guy." He stood up and grabbed something from within his coat pocket and placed a ping-pong-sized Malphite on a table.

"Aww, who's the cutest rock in the wooooooorld?" Jinx squealed at the little figure with glee and excitement. She began to poke Malphite a couple of times, and the little rock tried to fend off her pokes with his tiny pebble fists.

"Still," the wolf said with a little interference from the earpiece, "I can't believe I'm saying this, but this plan might actually work."

From the suitcase, Jinx pulled out Fishbones and began talking, "there were many other versions that we could have done, but I believe this was best. Plus, the receptionist was a guy. If it were a woman, we would have gotten Twisted Fate to lead." The little launcher was then motioned to Twisted Fate's direction. "Nice work on the disguises and make-up by the way."

The Cardmaster bowed, "I've made many disguises in the past, but the stellar performance goes to our ADC here." He then began to applaud Jinx for her acting skills. Over the lines, they could hear Thresh and Warwick clapping their hands. Even little Malphite stomped his feet on the table to produce small taps.

"I hope that was recorded," Thresh said on the line.

"Sorry Match Stick," Jinx shrugged, "the best performances are done live. Maybe next time."

"Alright everyone," Fishbones continued, "since Heim's lab can only be opened by himself, and unless he's willing to let any of us in, we need to kidnap Heimerdinger to open up his lab. Heim usually never leaves the PSR, so conferences like these are when he's most exposed. He usually leaves the PSR with security and escort from Piltover's Finest since he's one of the most influential people in all of Runeterra, which means hijacking his vehicle is out of the question. We have three hours until the conference starts and the conference lasts for only an hour. We have to set up everything beforehand so that we can get him then move."

"Kind of ironic that we're kidnapping him then bringing him back," Fate said.

"True," Fishbones replied, "but a full frontal assault on the PSR is never going to work, and we can't get anywhere near him with all of his security. The only time he's alone is when he's standing at that podium. Are you all ready?"

"Good to go," Jinx said.

"Ready as I'll ever be," Twisted Fate smiled.

"Understood," Thresh replied.

"Yeah, yeah," Wawick snarled.

Malphite jumped and motioned a small thumbs up with his fist.

"Alright everyone," Jinx commented, we have three hours to get Heim and make a break for the PSR. So let's move!"

Twisted Fate quickly put on a new outfit from the suitcase and opened the window to see a nearby roof. "Thresh buddy, I'm on my way to get you in here." He then teleported out of the room in a blink of an eye.

Jinx then picked up the little rock and placed him close to her eye. She inspected his frame along with a little something else. "What'cha think Rocky? A dozen? Two?"

The little figure shook his tiny head.

"How much then?" she asked.

Malphite slammed his fists on the surface of her fingers thrice to produce little pricks on the skin.

"Alright, three dozen then," she said as she placed him down. "What do you think Fishbones?"

She brought up her launcher and moved its jaw, "by my calculations, thirty should be the magic number, but there's no harm in using more."

"Alright then!" Jinx smiled. She then placed her finger onto her earpiece. "Match Stick, Wolfboy, are you two ready?"

* * *

~Piltover Needle - Delivery Entrance~

"Match Stick, Wolfboy, are you two ready?" Jinx said through the earpieces of the Chain Warden and the Blood Hunter. They both made their way to the entrance where the catering trucks were coming in to deliver the food for the conference.

"Yeah, we're here." Warwick said.

"Still," the warden said, "I have to admit, we have accomplished a lot to prepare for this."

"Yeah," Fate said in the earpiece, "such as getting the proper disguises, calling the orchestra off-."

"And making a false web article!" Jinx added through the line.

"Not so loud!" Warwick snarled, "we're still sneaking in!"

The duo were actually tasked to sneak in the delivery area. Though the two would be undoubtedly noticeable if they were seen, they were both sensory beings. One senses flesh, while the other senses souls.

"You two had the easier part!" Thresh whispered as he avoided three people carrying frozen meat. He had to dim the colour of his glow so that he would be fit for the sneaking part.

"It's not our fault we're human. Just push forward," Twisted Fate said, "I'm almost there."

Thresh hid amongst the carts as he watched people pass by. "I swear, if one spots me, I'm taking his soul."

"Same goes for me," the Blood Hunter said, "I'll rip his heart out."

"Guuuuuuys," Jinx wailed on the line, "Malphite's being cranky! He doesn't like that idea!"

"Tell him to shut it!" Warwick said as he crawled on all fours, "he had the easiest time just by staying in Fate's pocket!"

Just then, a crowd of people came out of nowhere and they were moving in various directions around the two champions.

"Crap!" Thresh swore as he narrowly avoided two people.

Warwick almost got cornered but managed to get to slide next to the onions and garlic.

Soon, Thresh managed to maneuver around the mass of people an into a spot next to the food carts.

"I'm in position," Thresh said, "you can make the order Jinx."

"Roger Match Stick!" she said.

"I'm here as well," the gambler said, "waitin' for the order."

"Warwick, are you at the trucks yet?" Thresh asked.

There was no response.

"Hey Warwick," Fate sounded concerned, "what's wrong?"

Warwick said nothing because he was still surrounded by people bringing in the herbs and spices. But he did let off a certain sound.

"Order's doooooone!" Jinx said, but as she listened carefully to her ally, she noticed something. "Wolfboy... are you crying?"

True enough, the werewolf was sniffling and tearing up. "Stupid... Onions," he swore.

Jinx was ecstatic and was laughing through the communication line while Thresh tried his best not to laugh, "can you still get into a delivery truck?"

"Sense is down," the wolf struggled to say, "too many scents. Overpowering nose."

"Then hear your way around!" Twisted Fate exclaimed, but then he received an order from a very special guest. He took the order and told the chefs, "one special dinner meal for Room 733, two steaks, two mash potatoes, a-" he continued saying the order while the warden tried to help the wolf.

Thresh meditated for a bit and closed his eyes. He sensed the souls around him and honed in on to a certain soul. "Warwick, there's four people around you."

"I can hear at least that," Warwick sniffled, "but there's too much noise, and I can't tell where they're moving."

"I'll guide you friend," Thresh concentrated, "where were the trucks located?"

"In front of me. Somewhere past these crates of herbs," the wolf said.

"Move a bit forward so that I may triangulate your position."

The wolf did as he was told and this gave Thresh a general idea on where to lead him.

"Move forward."

The wolf followed and hid behind a crate, "I hear two people near me. Now what?"

"Climb over the crate and duck."

The wolf climbed over and was surrounded by crates. The two delivery men soon left to bring some fish to the kitchen.

"Good, now go forward until you reach another crate."

"Thresh," Fate said over the earpiece, "the order's almost done, are you in position?"

"Yes, Fate, I am," the warden curtly responded, "now be quiet and try not to bother me."

Warwick reached the create and he was slowly recovering, "now what?"

Thresh concentrated again, "there's three people heading towards you from the right!"

Warwick dashed to the left side and hid behind a box of frozen meat. "I'm almost to the trucks. I hear five people."

"Damn it, they're all going your way!" Thresh said.

Warwick heard one tray of meat being taken, then another, and another. He was trapped. Cornered. Sniffling next to frozen meat. Four trays have already gone and he was hiding behind the last one. He readied his claws and mentally prepared himself for the worst case scenario: Malphite kicking his ass.

"Achoo!" was the first thing the wolf heard.

"Achoo! Achoo! ACHOO! Ah crap, stupid allergies," the deliveryman said, "gotta get my inhaler."

Warwick heard some footsteps going away from his position and gave a sigh of relief.

"Alright, alright guys, tee hee, I-I'm back from the floor laughing," Jinx said, "what I miss?"

"Warwick gave someone an allergic reaction," Thresh chuckled.

Jinx lost it once more.

Warwick kept his embarrassment to himself, "shut it! I've reached the trucks. You better hope they left the key, or I'll kill the driver!"

The werewolf made his way to one of the delivery trucks and found that it was empty with the key still in place.

"The truck is secured and empty," the wolf said, "thanks Thresh for the help. I'm going to move this to the meeting place then going for phase two."

Thresh then snuck underneath a dinner cart and replied, "good. Fate, I'm inside the cart."

"Good, 'cause the dinner special's ready for Miss Lauren," Twisted Fate said as he motioned towards the cart that had a small green glow coming from the cover sheets. He then wheeled the cart with Thresh in it and received the order.

"Going topside," the disguised waiter said.

"Don't make it a rough ride, or I'll have your soul," the cart whispered.

"No worries," Fate smiled, "Warwick, you okay over there?"

"Have you ever seen a wolf drive before?" the Bloodhunter said as he started the engine.

"Uh," Fate did not know what to say.

"Relax, the destination's not too far from here. Plus, I was human before remember?" after he said that, Twisted Fate heard the sound of a truck exiting the building... hitting some trash bins along the way.

* * *

~Piltover Needle - Room 733~

"Thank you!" Jinx asked in her Abigail Lauren voice, "remember! Three dozen!"

As she put down the phone, she heard her doorbell ring. She then looked through the peep hole and saw a well dressed waiter with a meal cart. The waiter winked at the peep hole and then she opened the door.

"'Bout time you got here!" Jinx squealed, "I'm hungry!"

Twisted Fate wheeled the cart in and closed the door. "Calm down, let's let Thresh get-."

Without any warning, the Chain Warden flopped out from the cart and on to the rug carpet. His entire body felt sore since he kept the same uncomfortable position for quite some time. "That... was painful," he said in defeat.

Jinx brought Fishbones back to her shoulder and began to move his jaw, "just rest for a while. Warwick, have you parked in the rendezvous point?"

"Traffic's bad," the wolf said through the earpiece, "but hey, my nose is feeling better, and I should be there in a few minutes."

"Good," the rocket launcher said, "think you can get to the PSR on foot within the next hour?"

"Yeah, shouldn't be too bad," the wolf replied, "got to go; the light's green. MOVE YOU IMBECILE!"

"Well," Jinx said as she put Fishbones down, "I'm sure he'll be fine. Come on! Let's dig in!"

The two humans set up the table for their dinner while Thresh got to his feet and went to the bed.

"Three course meal for two," Twisted Fate said as he took off his waiter disguise, "Thresh, you want any?"

The sore warden groaned, "unless there's a soul in there, I don't need to eat, mortal."

"Fine Match Stick, more for us!" Jinx exclaimed.

The Cardmaster started with the caviar while Jinx took a sniff of the mashed potatoes and started eating.

"Mmm, sooooo gooooood," Jinx was enjoying her meal.

"There are a lot of advantages being a forger," Fate said as he took a sip of red wine, "such as getting in the Debonair Club."

"So was that your Debonair outfit earlier?" FIshbones asked after Jinx fed him a spoonful of mashed potatoes.

"Yep. Made an alias, deposited some fake cash mixed with some real ones, and a little here, some magic there, and Theodore Faust came to be," he smiled, pleased with himself.

"You devious snake," Thresh said as he sat upright.

"Truck's parked," Warwick said, "gonna eat some meat, then rush to the PSR."

"You kill anyone and I'll gladly 'port Malphite to your position," Twisted Fate said.

"I TOOK SOME FROZEN MEAT! GEEZ," Warwick complained.

"Hear that Rocky? Wolfboy's a good boy! Hey..." Jinx looked around for her tiny friend, "where'd he go?"

The two searched for Malphite on the table and to their surprise, they saw the little guy on top of scoops of ice cream.

Jinx held her laughter to herself, but TF encouraged her to just go with it. "Say it... you know you want to say it..."

"ROCKY ROAD! HAHAHAHAHA!" Jinx laughed hysterically.

The tiny giant didn't understand why his comrades were laughing, but to him, he didn't care. He saw a greater prize: ice cream five times his current size.

Room 733 had a girl laughing on the floor, a forger trying his best not to laugh, a spectre feeling amused at what just happened, a wolf on the communication line munching his meal, and one of the most dangerous titans in Runeterra overjoyed with his dessert. This was not a strike team anymore; it was a group of friends.

"Okay, haha, okay, phew," Jinx recovered from her laughing fit, "what time is it?"

Twisted Fate checked the clock, "we have two hours. We have to go." He then got his earlier disguise and went to the bathroom to change.

Jinx on the other hand, since she didn't remove much of her earlier disguise, just put the wig back on with a bit of makeup and perfume. "How do I look Match Stick?"

"You look okay," the warden said on a whim.

Jinx pouted then changed her voice, "does my appearance not suit you?"

Thresh was certainly impressed, "though I judge people by their souls, I must say, you might give Ahri a run for her money when it comes to crushing mens hearts."

"It's the voice dear, and the acting," Abigail winked.

"Are you ready Miss Lauren?" TF asked.

"Why yes Theodore, it's time to pay the reception a visit," Abigail replied in her usual soothing voice.

Theodore offered his arm and Abigail held on to it. "Dear warden," the youth said, "are you prepared to perform?"

Thresh sighed, "it has been a while. But I'll be fine." He then approached the other suitcase and got a few items.

"Splendid," the girl replied, "shall we Theodore?"

* * *

~Piltover Needle - First Floor~

The reception was in a state of panic. Calls were made everywhere in order to find someone who can arrive at the Needle within two hours to perform for the conference. Originally, they organised a small orchestra to perform, but for some reason, they didn't arrive. When the reception called, they were surprised to hear that the orchestra couldn't make it because apparently, they claim that the reception called to cancel.

Oliver, who has gotten back to his feet, was frantically making calls everywhere. He called up dance groups, acapella singers, and even that one yordle marching band, but nobody could make it to the hotel within two hours.

"Is something wrong?" a graceful voice said.

Oliver looked up from his desk and saw a very familiar face. "Uh, uh, um," he stuttered.

"It appears as if everyone's worried, oh, and that makes me worried as well," Abigail said.

"I-it's nothing Miss Lauren, it's just that th-the performance tonight might be canceled," Oliver said apologetically.

"Oh, is that all?" she smiled. She then nodded to Theodore and he got his cell phone and dialled a number. When the call was accepted, he then gave the phone to Abigail. "Hello? Yes, dear, it's me. Are you available? Mhmm, yes. Splendid!" the young girl did a small jump for joy, "can you make it to the Piltover Needle? In..." she then put her hand on the receiver and asked Oliver, "an hour?" Oliver was so lost that he just nodded twice for no reason. The girl went back to her conversation, "in an hour? No? Oh, you're cutting it close dear, but I trust you. Ta ta!" she then gave the phone back to her companion and smiled.

"W-what," Oliver stuttered, "what just happened?"

Abigail extended her arm and gently lifted the receptionist's chin. "Oliver my dear," she started, "I. Got. You. Your. Performance!"

"B-but how? Who? What?" Oliver stammered.

"Look dear," she wagged her finger at his face, "now's not the time to stutter. The good news is that my friend is willing to perform here at the Piltover Needle. The bad news is that he'll only be able to arrive exactly in two hours."

"I-I," the clueless receptionist stuttered, "I don't-"

"Look Oliver," Abigail said, "get up and tell everyone that the performance is saved! Smile!"

She beamed at Oliver and it brightened up his day, no, his month. "T-thank you so much, I-I don't know what I can do in return," he said.

"Well..." the young maiden thought about the offer for a moment, "there is one thing I should mention."

"What is it Miss Lauren?" he asked.

She showed a sly smile, "have you ever heard of the art of poi dancing?"

* * *

~Piltover Needle - Conference Hall~

Located at the top-most floor was the conference hall. It was eight in the evening and the room was buzzing with people, both celebrities and scientists alike, and all were very curious as to how the generator works. Some attended to get inspiration, insights, or even quick and helpful tips for their inventions, while others wanted to see if it was worth to invest on such a device.

Naturally, where there's presence of progress and riches in Piltover, there was also Piltover's Finest to protect and safeguard the event. A familiar sheriff was gazing at the crowd, checking and seeing if there was anyone that looked similar to those of the wanted posters.

"See anything Cait?" the Man of Tomorrow asked.

"No Jayce," Caitlyn sighed, "but we can't let our guard down. Do you have the complete guest list?"

The man shook his head, "Vi went to get it. I was told to bring the 'suitcases.'"

Since it was a public event, it was not wise to enter with any arms, so the two had to keep their weapons inside two rather large suitcases.

"And where is Vi?" Caitlyn asked.

"I don't know," Jayce shrugged, "she's probably arguing with the reception for the list."

The sheriff sighed. It was already a problem keeping the peace in Piltover, but she also had to juggle with the one officer who has been accused with police brutality countless of times.

"Anyway, check and see if you notice anyone," she said as she went back to surveying the room, "ever since Jinx escaped, she hasn't showed her face since."

"Yeah, yeah, still bitter about that aren't ya?" Jayce laughed, "still, I'm not going to look for the ones I've seen before; I'll focus on identifying who I haven't."

After he uttered those words, he took notice of a certain young female followed by a tall companion. She was giggling and smiling, and waving to those who waved at her. She looked so elegant, beautiful, and graceful. Jayce whistled, "and look who we have here."

Across the room, Jinx and Twisted Fate were disguised once more for the final part of their plan. They managed to get through the crowd of Jinx's new admirers and proceeded to their table, which was next to Janna's.

"Geez, you have about a dozen bachelors right at your finger tips," TF commented.

"Eh, none of them are my type," Jinx said as she smiled and wave at a couple more men.

The duo sat down and mentally prepared themselves for the conference. The final step was to grab Heimerdinger then bolt for the PSR.

"Warwick, you at the PSR?" Twisted Fate asked through his earpiece.

"Yeah," the werewolf said, "just familiarising myself with the location and sniffing out the guards.

"Match Stick, you ready?" Jinx asked.

"Ready as I'll ever be," Thresh replied, "is Fate done with the sprinkler system?"

"Yeah I am," the Cardmaster commented, "Abigail's boyfriend told me."

"Who?" Malphite finally spoke.

"Long story Rocky, I'll give you the details later," the girl replied, "are you at the roof?"

"Yup," the giant replied.

"Alright boys," Jinx said, "see you in a while."

"See who in a while?" a voice from behind said.

The duo at their table turned to see Jayce holding a rose. "My dear, this is for you."

Jinx immediately shifted back to her Abigail voice, "why, thank you!" She then smelled the rose and smiled, "rose, the symbol of love."

The officer laughed, "my my, you are as good as they say."

"Personally," Abigail said, "if a man were to give me a flower of his choosing, I would be very pleased if he gave me a daffodil."

"And may I inquire why, my dear?"

"Daffodils represent chivalry, my dear," she smiled, "I for one don't believe it's dead."

Jayce smiled, "well gorgeous, why ask for a flower, when you can ask for my number?"

Damn, that was annoyingly smooth. Fate thought to himself.

"My, how forward, dear Man of Tomorrow," the graceful girl said, "but I would have to decline on that offer."

Jayce was taken aback, "why not?"

"For a man who envisions tomorrow," Abigail said as she held on to Theodore's arm, "you're pretty blind when it comes to the present."

Both men were blown away with her response. In fact, a few eavesdroppers were very startled and speechless.

Jayce suddenly felt like the entire conference hall let out a huge "ooooooooh" behind his back. He looked at the man she was next to and thought that he himself was the better choice.

"I see," Jayce said, "I guess I'll leave you and your...companion... to enjoy the evening." The Debonair went back to Caitlyn with a stern and jealous expression.

"Did," TF asked, "did you just give Jayce a burn that scarred his face?"

Jinx let go of Fate and punched him on the shoulder, "did I? I don't really care, but he ain't going to recover for a while. Gosh he was annoying."

"You do know that he has a fan club of admirers right?" the disguised man said.

"Which makes my act hurt him real good," a mischievous smile appeared on her face.

The lights began to dim and a familiar looking yordle went up on the podium.

"Greetings to all," Professor Heimerdinger said, "I would like to thank you all for finding time out of your busy schedules to come to this conference. Time is short, but I can at least entertain some questions here before I go back to the PSR."

While a few hands were raised, Caitlyn was still surveying the room despite hearing the mopes of her rejected colleague.

"Come on Cait, you have to help me with a better comeback to go against hers," the defeated man said as he tapped the table with one hand while the other was holding his chin up.

"Would you stop that and focus on the security of this conference?" the sheriff said.

"'I was blind because I saw you?' No, terrible. 'You're saying that now, but later you'll-'" before he could finish his sentence, the doors burst open revealing a familiar angry policewoman.

She was grumbling loud enough that the attention slowly shifted to her, but she didn't care. She stomped all the way to their table and sat down with her arms crossed. "I HATE this place."

"Honestly," the tired sheriff complained. She had a devastated officer on one side and a grouchy one on the other. She got her radio and spoke, "how are the rooftops boys?"

"All secure ma'am," a male voice said.

"Good, remember, Jinx could come flying in on a rocket," she said. For now, she only kept her ears open while still observing the room.

Nearly an hour has passed and there were still people asking about Heimerdinger's generator, and Jinx was starting to get bored. She didn't admit it, but she was really, excruciatingly bored. She started to fidget and twitch in her disguise and she didn't want to sit down any longer.

"Soooooooooo. Boooooooooring." Jinx said to Twisted Fate or to anyone actually listening to her whine.

"Easy girl, I'm not enjoying this myself. These guys are speaking with five or six syllable words," Fate replied, "I swear they're just making up weird words."

"Ugh, some of these dimwits don't even know what they're talking about," she said.

"You actually understand these eggheads?" the gambler said.

"How about replacing the Runerium core with Quvaltite to minimise the amount of electrical input needed to jumpstart the generator?" a scientist said.

Jinx yawned, "you can't substitute the core with Quvaltite because the Shülar's Equation has calculated that Runerium would fare better for maintaining an electrical current with maximum efficiency since Quvaltite has a lower heat resistance."

"Excuse me?" TF asked.

"I'm sorry fellow scientist," Heimerdinger said, "we've tried using Quvaltite as a replacement, but earlier tests show that it proved to be unstable."

"Because of Shülar's Equation," the lady in disguise said.

"Why is that, professor?" another scientist asked.

"Becaaaaaaause of Shülar's Equaaaaaaaaaation," Jinx said with annoyance.

"We do not know yet, but we believe it's because of the D'vro Theory," Heim said.

"Shü. Lar's. EQUATION!" Jinx's voice was starting to be heard by the press next to them.

"Take it easy girl, you might blow our cover," Fate was starting to get really concerned.

"Hmm... I guess using the D'vro Theory does make sense," the same scientist said with a nod.

At that point, Abigail Lauren stood up from her chair and objected, "professor," Jinx said in her other voice, "the D'vro Theory only explains why Quvaltite's electrical absorption properties are unstable when turning it into a generator for more than the estimated hours of its use, which is approximately forty-one hundred hours. I believe that the repeated failure of using a Quvaltive core can be thoroughly explained by using Shülar's Equation, which CLEARLY explains the recurring phenomenon."

The conference hall hushed, surprised and stunned from what the lady just said. Whispers amongst scientists were wondering who she was, while whispers among those who knew her name earlier were talking about how perfect and amazing she was.

Heimerdinger thought about it for a moment and did the necessary mental calculations, "I suppose you're right my dear. Truly there is still so much for me to learn."

With a cute little curtsy, Abigail sat down feeling rather refreshed and satisfied after letting go of her thoughts.

"Jinx," Twisted Fate said, "did you just school Heimerdinger?"

"I unleashed my inner 'Fishbones' Fancy Pants," Jinx said.

Far across the room, the three officers had mixed reactions on what just happened.

"Damn, I gotta get her," Jayce said.

"Little princess thinks she's a smart ass," Vi smirked.

Caitlyn found it very strange to see someone do that to the professor. Additionally, she wondered why she was seated so close to the podium.

"Vi, did you get the guest list?" the dark haired woman asked.

"Huh? Oh! Yeah! Here it is," Vi gave her a small planner.

Suddenly, the lights went out once more and someone was speaking on the microphone. "Ladies and Gentlemen, coming to you live is a very rare and wondrous performance!"

"Break a leg Match Stick," Jinx said to the spectre through her earpiece.

"Remember what you have to do," Fate added.

"Here comes: the Inferno Dancer!"

The once the music started, the doors opened once more and out came a cloaked figure. The figure went straight to the center of the hall and then he revealed his masked face. The audience gasped in horror because he looked like he was on fire; there were orange flames dancing around him. The figure drew a rope with two wicks at the end and with a snap of his fingers, he ignited them. The audience saw the fire dancer spin the wicks and produced a variety of exciting shapes and images.

"Blast, I can't read the list," Caitlyn said.

"Hey, if you're lucky, the flames will give enough light to read that little notebook," Vi said as she cheered for the dancer.

Instead of fear, the audience was very amused. They were wowed by the spectacle in front of them. The Inferno Dancer took a sip from a small container and breathed small fire wisps up into the air.

The Sheriff was thankful for that because she could read the list a little better. "Let's see, the girl's name is... Abigail Lauren." The sheriff thought to herself if she has ever heard of that name before. "I don't know her. Jayce, do you know anything?"

"Hm, so that's her name. I'll have to try harder to impress her next ti-WHOA," Jayce was stopped mid sentence when the dancer twirled the ropes and breathed fire at the same time.

"Wait, SHE was the girl you were hitting on?!" Caitlyn asked.

"Yeah Cait, now watch the performance! This guy's better than Thresh!" Jayce said.

Caitlyn saw the performer for the first time and observed that he had some features that represented Thresh, but Thresh doesn't have a head on fire... unless. Caitlyn squinted her eyes and noticed that the fire on the wicks behaved differently than the fire around his face; it was as if he wasn't on fire.

Caitlyn went back to her list and looked for the name of the girl's companion. "Theodore... Faust..." Once again, it was another unfamiliar name to her, however... "Theodore... Faust..." she said once more. "Theodore... F... TF?!"

She looked straight at the direction of the table of Abigail Lauren and Theodore Faust and saw that they weren't there anymore. Alarms were ringing throughout Caitlyn's brain and she quickly grabbed her radio and suitcase, but before she could do anything, the dancer breathed fire once more, straight to the ceiling, which activated the sprinklers.

What transpired next in the conference hall was something the task force came up with the night before. It took some precise positioning and timing to not only kidnap Heimerdinger, but also to get away from the Piltover Needle without using the front door.

An hour before the conference started, Twisted Fate got a good look at the water sprinkler's supply tank and delivered a magical touch to the water. The amount of magic may be small, but the fact that the water repeatedly touches people for a certain amount of time extends the stun duration for as long as the sprinkler system was on. So when Thresh breathed fire onto the sprinkler system, the two humans went underneath their table, lifted it, and dashed towards Heimerdinger's direction. Thresh put his cloak on to shield himself from the water and joined the walking table. They grabbed the yordle and ran straight to the window and threw the table to break the glass, and what awaited them there was Thresh's lantern. TF grabbed the lantern with one hand and Jinx's hand in the other. Malphite, who was on the roof, pulled with all his might to bring the two humans straight to the roof. Once the two were safely on the roof, he brought the lantern back down to bring Thresh and Heim up to the roof as well.

When the everyone was safely on the roof, they proceeded to escape the building.

"That... was AWESOME!" Jinx said as she took off her disguise, revealing her original uniform.

"I have to admit," Twisted Fate said removing his disguise, "your plan was awesome."

"I wasn't there, but hearing you guys like this must mean that the kidnapping was a success," Warwick's voice was heard from everyone's earpiece.

"Guys! He's waking up!" Thresh said removing his mask and shifting from an orange glow to his normal green one.

"No worries," Fate said as he got a table napkin and infused it with his powers. He then tied the golden napkin around Heim's face. "This will work as good as chloroform."

Jinx then opened up their suitcase, which Malphite brought to the roof before hand, and got her weapons and gave the gambler his hat. "Now, it's time to reveal... PILLOWFIGHTER MALPHITE!"

Earlier today, Malphite was only the size of a ping-pong ball, but after Jinx ordered three dozen fluffy and soft goose-down pillows, he became this giant walking pillow figure. The once fearful giant now had pillows for fists, and if ever he used his Unstoppable Force to tackle someone, a cloud of feathers would appear.

Twisted Fate put his hat back on, and gave Thresh a friendly pat on the shoulder, "good luck partner, 'cause unlike you four, I'm taking the easier route."

The warden accepted the response, "all will be well, I suppose."

Malphite returned Thresh's hook and lantern and said, "I feel... hugable."

Jinx gave Malphite a big hug, "Ooomph, Rocky, stay like this forever! I'll even call you Malphite if you stay like this."

"I will think about it," the giant pillow titan said.

Twisted Fate looked out the roof and spotted a couple of policemen on the next roof. "I'll take care of the guys over there," he said, "I'll meet you at the truck. Happy landings you guys!" After he said those words, he teleported to the next roof.

Malphite grabbed the sleeping yordle and looked at the next roof. "I can make that jump, but are you sure you all won't get hurt?"

Jinx brought Fishbones to her shoulder, "yes. I have done all the calculations and we should be able to survive the trip. Don't forget to roll to reduce the force of the impact," he then looked at Thresh, "sorry about this Thresh. Once we got Heimerdinger, getting out through any normal means would be very difficult."

The chain warden did not waver, "I trust you, wise one."

Jinx motioned Fishbones to nod and looked at the roof they were going to land on, "you ready Match Stick?"

The Chain Warden bowed, "I am your Support, dear ADC. I'm always ready."

The two then nodded to the ten-foot giant, signalling that they were ready for the ride. Malphite scooped up his two friends and with the yordle in hand, he backed up a few steps, then he ran to the edge of the roof at full speed and took a giant leap.

* * *

**There you go! Hopefully you guys liked it. It's definitely something out of the ordinary. But hey, I like ****Malphite, I like pillows, so if Riot makes a Pillowfighter Malph, I will instantly buy it. **

**Review Corner!**

**Kerbal: Thank you for finding it hilarious! I wonder what you think of this new one? So that I will not spoil anything, I will say nothing.**

**Thanks again for reading! ****As always, any feedback is very appreciated! Enjoy your day!**


	6. Phase 2

**Author's Note:**

**Guess who's back from the dead!**

**Sorry for keeping you waiting! It's been about three months since I've updated this story and I apologise for that. I had assignments to do, tests to take, a vacation and family to enjoy, but other than that, I've also felt the laziness every writer gets once in a while. I'm not a full time writer since I still have my studies to finish, but I do enjoy day dreaming a lot and therefore, I also think of a bunch of stories.**

**Anyways, tl;dr I'm sorry that I'm lazy and here ya go!**

* * *

~Piltover Needle - Conference Hall~

Within a few moments, Caitlyn realised that she was staring into deep space with her ears ringing. She looked at everyone around the room and they were all recovering from a daze. The sheriff noticed that there was a broken window and heard someone on her radio shout something. She picked up the radio and spoke, "what's... the situation?!"

"Ma'am, where have you been? We've been radioing you for a while now," the voice said.

"Ugh... must have been... a stun grenade or something... what's wrong?" the sheriff asked.

"We got a bogey," the policeman replied.

That's when everything hit her. The conference. The dancer. The duo at the front. Caitlyn remembered what just happened and who to suspect. She then spoke to the radio once more, "get me a chopper."

"ETA's ten minutes Ma'am," the radioman replied.

"Tell the pilot he's got five," Caitlyn replied. She then checked on Jayce and Vi to see if they were okay. The two other officers were up on their feet but they were a bit dazed from the sprinklers. "Jayce, Vi, are you both okay?"

"Head's a bit fuzzy," Vi said with a groggy look.

"I'm okay I guess," Jayce said as he rubbed his temple.

"Call the men to take care of the guests here," the sheriff ordered, "we're leaving in five minutes."

The two nodded and proceeded to care for the guests. Caitlyn then radioed in to her squad, "do we have eyes on the bogey?"

"Yes Ma'am, target is to your west side. He's jumping from building to building," an officer said.

Caitlyn immediately rushed to her west side and looked out the window. It was a bit hard to identify anything in the night, but it was also very hard to miss a giant white figure moving around. She got her suitcase and opened it to reveal her prized sniper rifle. She placed it on top of a table and honed onto the target. "I have vision of the target," she said.

"So do we Ma'am, what are your orders," the radioman asked.

"Do not open fire! Target is assumed to have the professor," she then focused on what she was seeing and was shocked. "Is that... Malphite?"

~Piltover City~

When Malphite jumped from the Piltover Needle, he landed on a building that was around forty stories tall. The massive, yet soft, pillow giant landed on the roof with a rather medium sized thump as well as giving off a handful of feathers in the air on impact. Of course, the building he landed on didn't crumble from the impact, but his presence was definitely felt by the people who were a couple of floors beneath him. Upon impact, he did what he was told and rolled up into a ball to reduce the force of the impact, and as he rolled across the rooftop, the trio who he hugged close to his chest experienced one of the roughest and softest roller-coaster ride they have ever experienced.

When the giant rose to his feet, he opened his arms and asked, "you guys okay?"

Thresh let out an exhausted groan; his glow got a little dimmer. "My soul... it aches..." he moaned.

Jinx, on the other hand, was ecstatic. She grinned at Malphite and said, "BEST. RIDE. EVER! Let's go again!"

Malphite smiled back to the tiny girl, "next time. How's the other one?"

Jinx looked to her side and found Heimerdinger still fast asleep with Fate's golden table napkin around his mouth. "He's fine. Let's go! We don't have much time."

"She's right," a voice said.

Behind Malphite was Twisted Fate looking up at the Piltover Needle. Around him were a couple of unconscious policemen who were on lookout duty. "I see a chopper making its way to the tower. No doubt Caitlyn's on her way."

Malphite nodded and told Jinx and Thresh, "hang on." He hugged them close to his soft fluffy chest and started jumping to the next roof. Twisted Fate in the meantime, radioed in to Warwick who was already at the Outer Ring of the PSR. "Warwick, how's it looking?"

"I've snuck in all the way to the security room in the Outer Ring," the wolf said on the earpiece. "I've managed to avoid some cameras, and nobody has been able to spot me yet."

"Perks of having perfect senses," TF admitted, "hide for now until I get there with Malphite."

"Roger," the Blood Hunter said.

The Cardmaster looked back at the Piltover Needle where a nearby chopper was approaching, bowed, and teleported away.

~Piltover Needle - Conference Hall~

Caitlyn was still on her sniper rifle looking at the rooftop Malphite landed and saw the events that unfolded. She saw her men passed out on the roof, and Malphite carrying Thresh, Jinx, and Heimerdinger. She saw a very familiar gambler talking to another person through an earpiece. She saw a disaster that was waiting to happen.

When she saw Twisted Fate bow to her direction, she knew immediately that she had to move quickly. When the chopper arrived she told the pilot to lower a ladder in front of the shattered window. "Vi! Jayce! Come on," she yelled as she jumped and gabbed the ladder. Her two colleagues followed her into the chopper and the pilot immediately left the tower.

"Vi, get the PSR on the line. Jayce, talk to the policemen who are tracking Malphite's movements," the sheriff said as she was opening a rather special and sturdy looking supply case.

"On it cupcake," Vi replied.

Jayce got his radio and spoke, "this is Jayce, who am I speaking to?"

"This is Officer Rogan, sir," the officer replied.

"Have you confirmed that the target is indeed Malphite?" Jayce asked.

"We have a visual on the target and we have agreed that he looks and behaves similar to Malphite," Rogan replied.

"Damn," Jayce swore, "Cait, can you believe this?"

"Yes I can," Caitlyn said fastening her seatbelt as she positioned herself to her sniping position, "and he's not working alone."

"Who else?" Vi asked as she was still trying to get to the PSR's Outer Ring.

"Malphite's working with Jinx, Thresh, Twisted Fate, and another one," the woman said.

Her two partners were shocked to hear her findings. "I-is this an attack or something?" Jayce stuttered.

"Whatever is it," Vi said as she clenched her right fist, "it's time to even the score from before."

"Focus you two," the sheriff said calmly, "priority is getting the professor back."

Jayce went back to his radio, "Rogan, where's the target?"

"Target's making his way downtown, sir," Rogan replied.

"Walking fast?" Jayce asked.

"Running fast, sir," the officer replied.

Jayce couldn't pass this up, "is he homebound?"

Cait thwacked Jayce on the head, "JAYCE!"

"Ow, okay, okay! I'll get serious," Jayce said in defeat.

"Target has suddenly went into a building sir. We don't have visual on the target." Rogan said on the radio.

"Which building?" Jayce asked.

"It appears to be a parking lot, and we- wait! Target's been spotted! He has left the building and is heading towards the next!" the officer replied.

"Go after him! Make sure th-" Caitlyn interrupted Jayce's conversation by swiping the radio from his hand. "Officer Rogan, was the building he jumped into taller or smaller than the last one?"

"I'd say it was pretty much the same height as the last, Ma'am, and it wasn't that far apart from one another," Rogan said.

"Affirmative," Caitlyn said, "keep an eye on the target." She then looked at Jayce with a very stern look, "radio all available units. Get half of them to that building Malphite was just in, two to chase after Malphite, and the rest at the PSR."

"Think he gave us the slip?" Jayce sounded concerned.

"Malphite could have easily made that jump," the sheriff said as she took aim at her sniper rifle, "he most likely dropped them off and is trying to distract us."

Jayce nodded. "Hey pilot," he said, "get us to the PSR ASAP."

"Vi, have they picked up yet?" Caitlyn asked.

"None, and I've redialled twice." Vi said sadly.

Caitlyn, still at her scope, swore as she eyed the building Malphite assumed to have dropped his allies in. This was starting to look like something even she can't handle.

~Piltover City~

"I'll drive!" Jinx said as she went into the driver's seat of the truck they stole.

"Just get in; I'll stay at the back with the professor," Thresh said as he opened the door and brought Heimerdinger in.

Jinx started the engine and buckled up. "Fancy Pants, the radio?"

When TF knocked out the guards on the rooftop, he took one of their radios and handed it over to Jinx. "Use this to monitor their movements." Twisted Fate said.

"Indeed Theodore," Jinx said in her Abigail voice then shifted back to her normal one, "you can take Rocky with you now. Wolfboy, you can start making a mess!" she said through her earpiece.

"On my way," TF replied.

"There's not a lot chasing me," Malphite said as he jumped across another rooftop.

"That's cause Cait probably knows what we're doing," TF commented, "she's too clever to be fooled by us."

"Security room has been taken care of," Warwick said, "nobody here can activate the forcefield."

"Good job Wolfboy," Jinx said, "remember, the eggheads at the Center can still activate it from their security room, so move it you three!"

"Roger, I'm here with Malphite as we speak," Twisted Fate said. Malphite stopped and immediately released his pillow complexion, returned to his original rocky texture, and reduced himself to the size of a golf ball. Fate grabbed Malphite's earpiece amongst the pillows and placed Malphite in his pocket once more. "Caitlyn's chopper's nearly at the PSR."

"Don't worry," Jinx said as she cracked her knuckles, "as long as you get there first, she can't stop you. Just get to the Master Control Room in the Center." With a tip of his hat, the Cardmaster disappeared.

Suddenly, the sounds of police sirens can be heard throughout the parking lot. "Gotta go, buckle up Match Stick!"

"But there are no seat belts in the back!" the warden sounded concerned.

"Well, you're about to find out why I don't have a drivers license!" Jinx said before pressing her foot down hard on the gas pedal.

~Piltover City - Chopper~

"Yes Ma'am it is confirmed; there is a vehicle heading outside the building," an officer said.

"Copy that, have you identified the driver?" Caitlyn asked.

"The driver appears to be a young girl. We believe that the identity is Jinx, Ma'am," the officer replied.

"Damn. Pursue that vehicle, and contact the other forces and tell them to get to the Outer Ring," the sheriff ordered.

"Roger that, we'll continue our pursuit," the policeman replied.

Caitlyn spoke to the pilot, "ETA on the PSR?"

"Sixty seconds Ma'am, this is as fast as I can go," the pilot said.

"Tch, not fast enough," she said quietly. She looked at Vi and Jayce, "Twisted Fate could teleport to the PSR Center in an instant, so I need you two to enter the facility and make sure it's secured. Once you to get in, lock it down, then check if there are any threats in the building."

The two officers nodded in unison. Caitlyn then got a phone and tried to contact the PSR's Center. After a few seconds, there was a panicked voice, "hello? Is this the police?!"

"Yes, this is Caitlyn, what is your situation?" she asked.

"A wolf! Warwick is here in the PSR! How the hell did he get past the Outer Ring?" the person said.

"Calm down, I'm sending Vi and Jayce to help, do not activate the forcefield just yet. I will inform you when to raise the barrier. Follow SOP and get every member to the panic room and put the place on lockdown!" Caitlyn ordered.

"Y-yes Miss Caitlyn, right away," the other person said.

The chopper hovered above the PSR and the door opened for the two officers. Before they dropped, Caitlyn gave them one last message, "Warwick has been confirmed to be on site. That totals to five champions. Be careful when you go in."

"Aw, you worried 'bout us cupcake?" Vi snickered.

Caitlyn ignored her comment, "go now! I'll find the professor."

As Caitlyn left in her chopper, she made one final message to the radio. After a few seconds, a huge amount of energy was emitted from the Center, pulsating with electricity. Soon, a massive translucent dome of energy surrounded the facility, blocking anything that may want to enter it.

When the two officers entered the PSR, they noticed that the main hall was deserted.

"Nobody home?" Vi was disappointed because she was really looking forward to punching someone.

"Standard procedure in case any threat enters the PSR is to activate the forcefield," Jayce said, "but when someone has made their way INSIDE the complex, the procedures change."

"Which is?" Vi asked as they both moved further inside.

"If some danger is in the building, then they would put everything on lockdown," Jayce continued, "labs, office rooms, heck, even the cafeteria will be on lockdown with three inch think titanium doors closing the entrances, exits, and walls. All personnel will head to the panic room, where they have food supplies and everything to handle their every need until the authorities arrive. The baddies are trapped in, and the only way out is through the entrance, which will be swarmed by the police by then."

"Which means," Vi said as she readied her fists, "they can't get out."

"Yep. The field only lasts for two hours upon activation. Pretty sure Cait can rally up the entire squad right outside the PSR. Warwick doesn't stand a cha-" A loud thud interrupted the Defender of Tomorrow mid sentence. The two police officers headed toward the direction of the sound. Another loud noised boomed through the hallway.

"What the hell?" Vi said as she turned around the corner.

In front of them was the supposed three inch thick titanium door with a huge hole torn through it.

~Piltover City - Streets~

A Piltover van zoomed across the evening traffic followed by five police vehicles. What was once used to deliver food was now being used to deliver a spectre, a scientist, and a deranged youth. There was an announcement saying that all pedestrians should stay indoors and that vehicles should stop and clear the roads for their safety.

At the back of the speeding vehicle, a lot of groaning and grunting came from the back. Thresh was being tossed and turned and he swears that his body somehow met the ceiling twice. "JINX! You better not be the death of me!" he screamed.

"Quiet Match Stick! You wanna try to avoid police cars?" Jinx yelled.

"Attention Jinx," a police vehicle said through its megaphone, "stop the vehicle now."

Jinx just extended her hand out of the window and showed one finger. She then turned right into a narrow street hoping that she could avoid more cops.

Thresh grabbed Heimerdinger and protected him from getting any more battered and bruised as he himself was. "Jinx, he might receive a drop in his IQ at this rate!"

"Fine! I'll WARN you for the turns then," Jinx grinned.

Just then, Jinx saw on her side mirror a helicopter flying behind them with a very familiar sheriff aiming a rifle at them.

"Gonna floor it Match Stick! Hat Lady's here!" And without any delay, the delivery truck started to speed through alleys and roads.

As Thresh was tossed and turned once more, he decided that enough was enough. He got his hook, looped it around the bars of the divider, and tied himself next to the wall. It wasn't much, but it managed to hold the Chain Warden down.

"Thresh, you there?" Warwick's voice through the earpiece made it clear that at least his ears still work.

"Yes, we're still on the roads, what's happening?" the warden asked.

~Piltover City - PSR Center~

"We're good. Just a couple more doors for Malphite to smash through," the Blood Hunter said.

Twisted Fate managed to teleport to the PSR's Center before Caitlyn and the others arrived. Both he and Malphite met up with Warwick soon after. Malphite grew to his normal size and did what he did best: being an unstoppable force.

"Once we're in, we'll need you to tell us how to turn the field off," the gambler said, "can you make it here on time?"

"Yeah yeah, Fancy Pants, we'll be there!" Jinx's voice could be heard along with the sound of loud police sirens. "Fishbones said that you can terminate the field by inputting a security code into the main computer at the security room."

"Yeah, we're a couple of door-"

Malphite smahed through one last door, and when he saw that there was nobody there but a bunch of flashing lights and screens, he growled, "found it!"

"We're in," Twisted Fate said as he rushed in and found the main terminal. "I'm accessing the computer's security files as we speak. Warwick, Malphite, guard the door."

Malphite grabbed the smashed titanium door and tried his best to put it back in the hole he charged in while Warwick began to identify any threats by using his senses.

"Hrng?" the wolf stopped in his tracks. He knew of this familiar scent... no... scents...

"Fate, we've got company," Warwick said, "it's Vi and Jayce."

Fate clenched his teeth, but didn't look away from the monitors. "We're going to need time. Can you two handle them?"

Warwick grinned, "with pleasure." The wolf was beginning to feel the rush of adrenaline; he was looking for blood.

"No, hurting!" Malphite growled.

"Well that's too bad," a voice said.

Malphite and Warwick turned to the corridor, while Twisted Fate ignored it and continued to work because knew the voice all too well.

Vi was there with Jayce next to her side holding his Mercury Hammer. "Hm, such a shame," the Enforcer said, "because I really want to hurt you!

~Piltover City - Streets~

"Two hostiles. One hostage. One's driving. One's with the hostage." These were the initial facts that raced through Caitlyn's head as she took aim on the vehicle.

"At this speed," she said quietly, "all members will be injured." Without looking away from her scope, she extended her left hand and shuffled through her bag. Unlike in the Rift, Caitlyn's not just a one-trick marksman. She didn't become Piltover's guardian through sheer force. She chose a specific bullet and loaded up her rifle.

She then breathed. She focused all of her senses towards her target. She ignored everything. The chopper noises, the sweat on her brow, the blaring police radio, everything. As the chopper was maintaining a steady speed, she pulled the trigger.

The bullet left the barrel of her rifle and zoomed through the air. Perfect. Innocent. As the tiny object flew towards the escaping van, the van took a right turn. The bullet hit the ground and spilled an odd looking liquid. As other vehicles drove over the vehicle, the substance began to grow and slowly coat the tires of anything that drove past it, and eventually, all vehicles with the coated tires slowed down to a halt.

"Tch, missed," she said as she began to reload another bullet. Caitlyn has been able to prevent fires, protect bystanders, track enemies, and a whole lot more by using some of the best Hextech gear available for her line of work.

As she laid eyes onto her target again, her target is already having trouble driving and communicating with her team.

Down on the streets, Jinx, Thresh and Heimerdinger were making their getaway and moving on to the next phase. The PSR's forcefield can be manually deactivated by inputting a code, which was known to many of the high security members and scientists. Additionally, Heim was the one who made the code.

Thresh made sure he had a good grip on the little yordle as he prepared to do some soul reading. "She's not trying to stop us, is she?" the warden asked.

"She knows that the little pipsqueak there's a VIP," Jinx said as she turned the steering wheel and shifted gears, "she will try to stop us and save him without him suffering any casualties.

"Heh, the spectre said, "don't count on it."

"You really don't know a thing about her, do you Match Stick," the girl said, "she never gives up.

That was when another shot were fired. It hit and broke one of the van's side mirrors. "Crap!" Jinx swore. There was another shot soon after and broke the opposite side mirror. Without the side mirrors, Jinx can only see forward and not back, which will make dodging a lot harder than it already is.

"Match Stick, give the codes!" Jinx yelled as she made small swerves around the road in hopes to make Caitlyn's shooting harder.

The warden focused on looking into the soul of Heimerdinger. He meditated and concentrated on identifying the little yordle's soul. The Chain Warden, having many experiences with souls, has come to a greater understanding of what they are, to the point where he can even describe souls. The soul, unlike the mind, is the life force of any being. What use are memories and thinking unless you have the spirit to will them? As he peered into Heim's soul, he began to see the professor's history. His birth, his youth, even his previous dancing career was all clear to Thresh. "Damn, he really was a disco skater," Thresh thought to himself. However, he knew that he needed to give Twisted Fate the manual override codes quickly. He searched throughout Heimerdinger's soul and found an episode of when he first uploaded the manual codes into the PSR's security room.

"Found it," Thresh said, "Fate, I found the co- what the-" Thresh got cut off mid sentence after seeing how much Heimerdinger typed. He saw the yordle type not only with his two hands, but also using that mechanical invention that he has in his head. He estimated that the code was not just a simple string of characters, but around hundreds of characters long!

"Uh, this might take long," Thresh said to the earpiece as he tried to identify what Heim typed.

"How long?" Jinx asked as she took another turn to avoid some pursuers.

"The manual code's around AT LEAST two hundred and fifty characters long!" Thresh argued.

"THEN START GIVING IT!" Jinx yelled.

Thresh didn't argue with the marksman, "Fate, are you ready? 'Cause there's a hell of a lot of characters for you to type."

There was no response.

The warden suddenly felt a chill down his spectral spine, "Fate? Are you there?"

Silence.

"Damn it Fate. CAN YOU HEAR ME?!"

"SHUT IT THRESH! WE'RE BUSY!" Thresh heard followed by a loud crash through his earpiece.

~Piltover City - PSR Center~

Vi and Jayce engaged in a 2v3, which should have been in favour for the task force except for the fact that one of them didn't want to fight. Malphite raised his arms not to go on the offensive, but to defend himself from the pummelling Vi gave him.

"Come on big guy," Vi sneered, "you're making this too easy!"

"I won't fight," Malphite responded.

"Yeah, well we're gonna get in trouble if we don't," Warwick said as he lunged towards Jayce. Unfortunately, the wolf got knocked back by the Defender of Tomorrow's Mercury Hammer.

"Tsk Tsk," Jayce wagged his finger, "gonna send this pooch to the pound."

Out of the corner of his eye, Jayce saw a yellow object headed straight for him, and he dodged the object almost effortlessly. He looked and saw the Card Master holding a handful of cards in both hands. Twisted Fate threw one, then another, and another, but unfortunately in the real world, it's rather easy to dodge flying cards.

As Jayce saw the fallen cards on the floor, he laughed. "I can't believe the League made it so that we Champions can't avoid these things! C'mon, what else you got under your sleeves?"

That's when Fate brought out two decks of cards and imbued them with his magic and threw them all towards Jayce. Glowing cards of red, blue and yellow flew straight towards Jayce. In response, Jayce pressed a switched and slammed the hilt of his hammer down on the ground, which produced a field of electricity to protect him from the attack. The collision between magic and technology caused a small smoke cloud to surround Jayce, but when the smoke cleared, he was still standing, unaffected by the attack.

"Aw Fate, I've fought small-time crooks better than you," Jayce bragged. "You're all slight-of-hand and magic tricks."

The gamble tipped his hat, "and a good distractor."

That was when Warwick lunged once more to Jayce and pinned him to the ground.

"Hey, get off me! No! Not the face! Not the Jayce Face!" Jayce begged.

On the other side, Vi still kept punching Malphite and the giant's Granite Shield's already worn off. Twisted Fate, knowing that Thresh and Jinx can't keep Caitlyn on their tail for long, knew that he had to proceed with the mission or else they would be in big trouble.

"Malphite! If you won't fight, at least get them out of here!" Twisted Fate shouted to the giant.

"Got it," Malphite said. As he received more and more blows from Vi, he saw an opening between her punches and grabbed her arm with his massive fists.

"Hey! Get off you piece of-" before Vi could finish her sentence, Malphite grabbed Jayce away from Warwick and dashed through the door, bringing the officers away from the control room.

"Warwick, help Malphite fend them off while I input the codes," Twisted Fate said as he grabbed a chair and went back to the main computer, "once the field is down, I'll come and help."

"On it, but I can't promise our little 'no bloodshed' deal anymore," the wolf growled.

"Just go!" The Card Master shouted.

Once Warwick left, Twisted Fate spoke back to his earpiece, "okay friend, what do we have?"

"Alright," Thresh responded, "we start with NRGVZC-"

"Hey, hey, I can't hear you that well," Fate said, "what was it? MRECD?"

"NIDALEE. RAMMUS. GAREN. VI. ZED. CAITLYN, you got that?" Thresh shouted.

"Yeah, I hear ya," Fate said as he typed every character into the computer.

"Okay, Next is OLAF. SKARNER. YO-" The sound of metal being shot through was heard through the earpiece followed by the sound of screeching tires.

~Piltover City - Streets~

Caitlyn shot a special round into the back of the van and as it pierced through the roof, the bullet planted itself to the vehicle's floor right in front of Thresh. After a split second, the bullet activated and unleashed a vast amount of gray substance at the back of the vehicle enveloping both Thresh and the professor.

"Match Stick!" Jinx yelled in concern for her partner and turned the truck around a corner. The truck sped through an alleyway and into another corner leading to a district filled with schools, parking buildings, and malls. "Hey, Match Stick, you okay back there?"

"I. Live. Jinx." Thresh groaned.

Up above, Ciatlyn readied the next bullet and took aim at the driver's seat. The earlier substance was non-lethal but acted like a large area shock absorber, incapacitating everyone in it, and protecting them from crashes, which was perfect for high speed chases. She has secured the professor and captured Thresh in the process. Now, all she needs to do is to shoot Jinx and she can allow the truck to spiral out of control into an empty vicinity knowing that nobody would get hurt.

Unfortunately, she didn't predict the power of a being from the Shadow Isles.

Back in the van, Thresh got his lantern and summoned his power to produce a shield that surrounded the truck. An eerie aura wrapped itself around the truck, protecting it from any hazards. "There. Good. Enough." Thresh struggled to speak.

"Aw yeah Match Stick! Wohoo!" Jinx yelled as she sped the truck and headed towards the tower.

"Fancy Pants, Match Stick's okay, Jinx said to her earpiece, "he's going to keep saying the codes and we'll be there soon. You better not let Fat Hands ruin the fun."

~Piltover City - PSR Center~

"Oh, she's trying alright," Fate said followed by a devastating boom.

Down along the corridor, Vi broke Malphite's shield and exposed him to a flurry of powerful blows. Malphite refused to fight back, but placed himself in front of the hole he busted through and acted like a blockade preventing the officers from going back to Twisted Fate.

"I don't know what the hell you freaks are doing, but I'll keep on hurting ya until I bust out the truth from you!" Vi shouted in rage. Fueled with adrenaline, the Piltover Enforcer unleashed Excessive Force blow after blow in hopes to break her way through the giant. While Malphite didn't want to engage because if he did, he might give way for them to interrupt fate, he at least tried to block her hits or throw her away to get his shield back up.

Meanwhile, Warwick was dodging Shock Blasts from Jayce's Mercury Cannon. The fight was more favoured to Jayce since Warwick needed to get close to fight while Jayce can simply knock him back and shoot from afar.

"Scared to get close, Jayce?" Warwick snarled.

"Can't. You haven't bought me dinner yet," the officer joked as he kept shooting. "Hey Vi, need me to help? This puppy can't touch this!"

"Hell no! Malphite's mine!" Vi said as she charged up both her Vault Breaker and Excessive Force in her fist. "After all, he's the only one who I can punch THIS hard!"

Vi charged forward and while Malphite tried to stop her by unleashing several Seismic Shards, but Vi knocked them away like they were dirt. In an instant, Vi released all her power stored into her dominant hand and gave Malphite a very devastating punch to the stomach. The blow was so strong, it shattered nearby glass and produced a loud boom; louder than the first.

Malphite didn't move at first, but his legs gave way and he fell to his knees. The being who everyone thought to be indestructible, showed no signs of movement.

"Malphite! Warwick shouted. He was so concerned for his ally that he didn't see the Shock Blast Jayce shot at him. The blast electrocuted the wolf and brought him to his knees, but he still had the strength to fight. However, Jayce knew this too and shot several more Shock Blasts towards Warwick. The amount of electric shock was too much for the Blood Hunter to take, and soon, his body fell to the ground.

The Defender of Tomorrow stood tall and proud over the werewolf's body. "Heh, go to sleep pup." He turned towards Vi and asked, "hey, you okay over there?"

After her own punch, Vi found herself stuck against Malphite's body. She managed to punch straight through Malphite's stomach and now she couldn't remove herself from him. "I'm stuck!"

"What? You can't punch your way out of this one?" Jayce joked.

"Oh, I will. To your face!" Vi yelled, "now get me out of here!"

Jayce sighed. He knew that they needed to stop Fate, but he knows that Vi's probably the only one who can move Malphite's unconscious body out of the way. So he approached Vi and helped her out of the Shard's body. It was rough, but the Enforcer's arm was freed.

"Heh," Vi snickered, "he wasn't so tough."

"Did... did you kill him?" Jayce questioned, "Malphite's body hasn't moved since you threw that punch."

"Eh, he'll be fine," Vi said as she tried to move the giant's body, "the Summoner's voodoo magic will revive him or something."

"Yeah," Jayce said hesitantly. He also tried to move Malphite away from the corridor. Given that Warwick and Malphite were down, he was pretty sure that Vi, Caitlyn, and himself can take care of the remaining three. "Hey, have you actually seen a champ die outside the Rift?"

"I got into a bar fight once," Vi said as she struggled to move the body, "woke up the next day clean. Now shut up and push!"

"Yeah," Jayce grunted as he struggled to move the heavy giant, "but that's not dead-dead. Think Malphite's gonna be okay? He's not breathing."

"Does a dumb rock need to breath?" Vi asked.

Suddenly, they noticed a small whine coming from behind them. The two officers looked back and saw Warwick's body; he was breathing again.

"I'll take it from here," Jayce said as he grabbed his Mercury Cannon, "a few more shocks and he'll be back asleep again."

As Jayce approached the wolf, something inside Warwick took over. As blood rushed throughout his veins, his mind was slowly being taken over.

Flesh

"Still breathing huh?" Jayce said as he towered over the wolf.

Meat

"Time to go to sleep, pup."

Prey!

Warwick quickly got back to his feet and knocked Jayce down to the ground, pinning him against the floor.

"Hey, what the? Get OFF!" Jayce kicked the wolf off and got back to his feet. He switched to his Mercury Hammer and noticed that Warwick wasn't like his usual self.

"Got some new found energy, eh Warwick?" Jayce was buying time to look for an angle of approach. To the sides, he noticed that Vi was also starting to be aware of the situation.

Warwick stood on his hind legs with his arms to his side. He started to sniff the air, and took in a very familiar scent.

Blood

Jayce saw a trickle of blood drop from his face and onto the floor, and suddenly, he was thinking that his future looked very grim.

Warwick dropped to all fours and with a great amount of strength and agility, he leapt forwards towards Jayce in an attempt to hurt him, maim him, gut him, lacerate him. Kill him.

Jayce knocked him back with his hammer, but the wolf just got to his feet once more and attempted to strike once more. Jayce switched to his Mercury Cannon and unleashed some Shock Blasts in an attempt to hurt Warwick, but the Blood Hunter was just too fast. Warwick dodged every one of those shots and leapt once more for the attack. Almost instantly, Jayce switched back to his Mercury Hammer and produced his Lightning Field in hopes to defend himself from the rampaging Warwick. The wolf got caught in the field and fell onto all fours. Vast amounts of electricity surged throughout his entire body, but the pain was of no concern to him. What he focused on was the image of the flesh of his prey. Inside. His mouth.

Jayce saw in front of his own two eyes, a beast with no heart, no soul. All he saw was an animal; acting on instinct. The wolf was already half way through the electrical field and Jayce couldn't move. He was terrified. "No! Stay away!" He screamed. "Stay back! Stay away!" He turned towards Vi, who was already on the way, and begged, "help me!" However, it was already too late.

Warwick got through Jayce's field and grabbed the Mercury Hammer and threw it at Vi. Vi caught the hammer, but she was still too far to do anything yet aside from charging her Vault Breaker. The wolf was on Jayce and with one loud howl, he began to slash away onto his helpless prey.

"NO!" Vi used her fully charged Vault Breaker and knocked Warwick away from Jayce and into a wall. The Enforcer found that her partner was badly hurt with slash marks all over his body. Jayce was still breathing, but she knew that he was going to walk out of this with tons of scars.

Just then, Warwick recovered from the blow and was on all fours and ran straight for Vi. He lunged at her, but the officer used the hammer to knock him away to another wall next to Malphite's body.

Fueled with rage, she engaged her target with her Assault and Battery along with her fallen comrade's Mercury Hammer in her hand. She activated her gauntlets and gave herself a turbo boost, knocking anything that stood in her way for she was finished playing bad cop; she wanted to do something criminal.

"RAAAAAAAA!" She screamed as she took one big leap towards the werewolf.

A loud crash was heard echoing throughout out the empty halls of the PSR. The boom was so strong that even the scientists in the panic room jumped. In another room, as Twisted Fate typed in the last lines of code, he gritted his in frustration because he did no know as to what will remain from that fight.

As the dust settled, the Enforcer felt a a sudden pain on her arm. The amount of force delivered from that blow must have strained it badly. As she took heavy breaths, she wanted to see how bad the results were, and from there, report to Caitlyn as to whether or not she should still be on the force.

When Vi looked up, she saw that she didn't hit Warwick. The hammer struck a rather sturdy surface; one which was attached to an awoken giant.

Malphite let out a massive roar and grabbed the Mercury Hammer away from Vi. With his massive hands, he snapped the weapon into two. He turned to the exhausted Vi and quickly grabbed her arms and crushed her gauntlets, rendering the brutal policewoman to simply being a policewoman.

"Hey! Stupid rock!" Vi yelled, "Do you have any idea how long it'll take to repair these?"

"GRAAAAAAAH!" Malphite yelled back at her and threw her back towards Jayce. Vi landed on her head, and for once, she kept quiet and stayed quiet as she drifted away from consciousness.

With the two officers down, Malphite managed to relax himself. He regenerated the hole through his stomach by absorbing some of the earth around his feet. However, he didn't have time to rest yet because a certain bloodthirsty wolf wanted to feast on the unconscious bodies.

Warwick howled like a hungry beast and went full speed for his meal. Malphite saw this and threw out a Seismic Shard in hopes to stop him. Not seeing the attack, Warwick got hit on the back and fell down. He got up soon and ran towards the giant in a fit of rage. Malphite grabbed his deranged ally and didn't let go for as long as he had Warwick in his hands, the wolf cannot harm him or anyone. Despite Warwick's efforts to gnaw or slash himself away from the giant, it had no effect on his rocky surface.

"Malphite? You there?" Twisted Fate asked through the giant's earpiece. He was very, very impressed that the small object was still intact.

"Yes," the giant uttered.

"Thresh has given me the entire code," Twisted Fate said, "hope this works. If not, I'd have to type it all again."

A small siren blared throughout the hallways and nothing happened after that, but somewhere deep inside Malphite, he knew that everything was going smoothly.

Soon, Twisted Fate came out from the hallway with a smile across his face. "IT WORKS! Malphite, Warwick! It wo- woah," he saw the chaos in front of him, which consisted of broken debris everywhere, two unconscious officers, and a wolf chewing on a giant. "You okay?"

"Warwick's gone crazy," Malphite said, "should I knock him out?"

"Not sure," Twisted Fate said as he tied more of his golden cloths on to the unconscious officers. "Ouch, what the hell did you guys do to them?"

"They'll be okay," Malphite grunted. "I think."

Suddenly, a noise came from their earpieces. It was Jinx, screaming at the top of her lungs. "GUYS! GET YOUR ASSESS OVER HERE!"

"On the way little lady!" TF said as he ran out the door.

"SHE'S CALLED FOR MORE AIR SUPPORT!" Jinx yelled.

~Piltover City - Streets~

The van was almost at the PSR when the barrier suddenly disappeared. Given that it was shielded, it gave Caitlyn more of a reason to simply unload all of her bullets in hopes that the shield would break. Bullet after bullet, special ammo after special ammo, Thresh's shield was already dimming. It was one thing concentrating on putting the shield constantly up, but another to read one's soul to deliver lines and lines of code.

"Hang on Match Stick! Just one long stretch of road left!" Jinx yelled as she stepped on the accelerator.

Back in the chopper, Caitlyn decided that desperate times called for desperate measures. She lined up her sniper rifle and aimed at one spot of Thresh's shield. She powered up her rifle and prepared for her Ace in the Hole. As the chopper flew in the air, she targeted her sights and fired a shot that was designed never to miss. The powerful bullet zoomed through the air and pierced itself onto the shield. Unlike the earlier bullets, it didn't bounce off, but stayed on the shield.

"Hmph, one more," she said as she loaded another bullet.

While Caitlyn prepared for another strike, there were several other choppers en route. However, they were met with a certain gambler who greeted them with a couple of gold cards. "Don't worry," he said to the pilot, "I'm only taking out your guys. Someone's going to have to fly this thing." With a bow, he teleported to the next chopper, and the next.

A shot was heard. The Card Master saw a very familiar bullet zoom through the air. The bullet homed into the very same bullet that was stuck onto the shield and as the bullet collided, it shattered the shield of spirits. The eerie green glow was no more and was vulnerable for any other incoming attacks.

In Caitlyn's chopper, she heard her radio going off about Twisted Fate coming straight for her, which meant that she needed to act fast. She grabbed an earlier hex-tech bullet, which used the gray substance, and aimed straight for Jinx. If she can at least stop them from reaching the PSR, the other officers can handle the rest.

She aimed once more at the swerving, speeding vehicle and got the driver's seat in her sights. "Yes." She said.

"No!" a voice came from behind her.

Twisted Fate tackled Caitlyn out of the chopper and the both of them fell through the air.

"You imbecile!" Caitlyn yelled.

"Hold on to me!" TF said.

Before he tackled Caitlyn off the chopper, he managed to grab a parachute because there was no way he'll just tackle her out and let her fall while he just teleports out safely. He pulled the tag and the parachute took form allowing the two champions to glide through the air.

"You are under arrest," Caitlyn said as he hanged on to the gambler.

"Save it sheriff," Fate said, "at least wait until we're on land."

While the chopper was still turning around to help the sheriff, the two landed on to a nearby roof safely, but the sheriff was still pissed at Twisted Fate.

"I don't know what you're doing Fate, but you won't get away with this," Caitlyn threatened.

"Still threatening me without a weapon?" the gambler joked. He turned to the direction of the PSR and was going to teleport, but a familiar purple hat landed in front of him. He picked it up and threw it to Caitlyn. "If there's one thing you need to know, sheriff, it's that this little stunt is more than it seems." He tipped his own had and teleported away.

The lone sheriff stood there speechless. She saw her beautiful city in the dark, and yet felt like it was going to get even darker. As she put her hat back on, she grabbed something and whispered, "more than it seems huh?"

~Piltover City - PSR Outer Ring~

There was a police blockade in front of the main entrance of the Outer Ring. Several police vehicles and several more policemen were eyeing the one delivery truck that was headed straight for them.

One officer spoke to his radio, "Sheriff, we have the vehicle in our sights, what are your orders?"

There was no response.

"Sheriff, is the professor safe? Can we engage the target?"

Still no response.

The officer frowned, but he knew that he had to do something, so he looked at his comrades and said, "Stop that vehicle, we have to-"

"DO NOT ENGAGE!" a voice came from the radio. It was the voice of the sheriff.

"Ma'am?" the officer questioned.

"DO NOT ENGAGE! I REPEAT DO NOT ENGAGE! THE PROFESSOR IS STILL AT RISK!" she repeated.

As much as the officer didn't want to, he told the others, "CLEAR THE WAY! CLEAR THE WAY!"

The policemen evacuated the area and made a path for the van. As the van sped through, Twisted Fate arrived to one of the towers on the Outer Ring and activated the barrier once more, although this time, Jinx, Thresh, and the professor are in the PSR.

The energy barrier formed once more, pushing away anything in its path, but the van was already at the Center. In fact, it crashed at the Center.

Piltover's Finest was pushed away from the translucent barrier and several officers were very frustrated that they let this event happen. Suddenly, a voice came from all of their radios. "This is Caitlyn, what's going on?"

"We-" an officer said, "we let them though, just as you ordered."

There was a sound of silence once more followed by one last statement from the sheriff, "I made no such order."

~Piltover City - Center~

Twisted Fate teleported through the barrier and raced towards the crashed vehicle. "Jinx! Thresh!" he yelled in despair. As he approached the vehicle, he saw the driver's seat open and a dizzy and badly bruised marksman flop out of the door.

"Air... bags... work." She then fell to her knees.

Fate rushed in and helped the girl up. "Hey, you did great little miss, it worked. We're all here!"

"Heh," Jinx smiled as she regained some energy to stand up straight, "knew it."

Soon, Malphite came from the entrance and approached the vehicle. "Everybody okay?"

Jinx pointed at the back of the van. "Match Stick's there. He's just covered in a lot of goop."

"Got it," the giant said. He ripped open the back of the truck and saw a whole lot of gray substance and a dim green glow coming from inside it. Malphite used his hands and removed some of the goop to reveal the warden's figure along with the professor's still breathing body.

"Thank you, my friend," Thresh said weakly.

"How are you and the professor able to breath in that thing?" Fate asked as he helped Jinx gather her weapons.

"Hex-tech's a wonderful thing, isn't it Fancy Pants?" Jinx said, "breathable shock-absorbing goop."

Fate smiled, but then he remembered something, "what happened to Warwick?"

Malphite carefully carried the tired spectre and the yordle in his arms, "I knocked him out."

"Right, it was probably for the best," he said, "now let's get this over with."

The group managed to find Warwick placing the unconscious officer's bodies to one side. "I... I didn't know..." he said in disbelief.

"What the hell happened?" Jinx asked.

The wolf looked away, ashamed. "This is why I need to slaughter, I mean, find a celestial being. Before I become more of a monster than a beast."

Nobody said a word, but what did break the silence was the voice of Caitlyn coming from Jinx's stolen radio.

"Got some new tricks eh Jinx? Voice synthesiser perhaps?" the sheriff asked.

Jinx picked up the radio from her pocket and spoke, "you got that right Hat Lady!"

"Hmph," Caitlyn said, "you may have this one victory, but know that you have started something big. Something wrong."

"Hat Lady, you have no idea," Jinx replied.

"Yeah, your gambler told me the same thing," the sheriff said, "now excuse me while I make a few calls.

"Sure thing, Hat Lady," Jinx said.

As the girl put the radio back into her pocket, she told everyone to go to the security room once more. "How many personnel are in the panic room?"

Fate checked on the monitors and the attendance list, "there's... twenty four people in the panic room now."

"Got it, now lead us to Heim's lab. It should be located in one of the lower floors." Jinx said in reply.

As the, tired, battered and bruised squad made their way to Heim's lab, Caitlyn's voice came from the radio once more, "I've already called for backup and we're already contacting Ziggs as to how we can dismantle the field. You won't get away."

Jinx spoke to the radio once more, "we have twenty five hostages. Twenty four in the panic room, and one with us."

"I don't believe you, all of them went straight to the panic room." Caitlyn replied.

"Malphite ripped a hole open and got one," Jinx said. She then changed her voice into a more terrified and scared tone, "please officer, help me! I don't want to die!"

Caitlyn didn't respond at first, but when she did, she asked, "how are Vi and Jayce?"

Jinx looked at Warwick. Warwick looked away because he knew that everyone was already looking at him with judgemental eyes. "They're okay. We've managed to treat some of their injuries. Have an ambulance ready when the forcefield deactivates."

"Noted... thanks." Caitlyn finished and there was no response any further.

"Heh, that's the first time she's ever thanked me," Jinx smiled.

"Good for you," Fate said, "we're here by the way."

The group of five approached a door with a platform analyser which had the name "Heimerdinger's Laboratory" on it.

"So we place the little guy here and it'll open?" Twisted Fate asked.

"Yes," Thresh said, "I am sure of it."

Malphite placed the small yordle onto the platform and the computer analysed the unconscious being in front. "Analysis confirmed. Welcome back professor." The door opened and it appeared that it led to an elevator. The group got the professor and went inside the elevator all the way down. The doors to the elevator opened and the entire group couldn't help but smile as their efforts to reach this far seemed very worth it. They saw inventions everywhere, machinery that were used for producing electricity and magnetic forces. They even saw some plant life that were probably being genetically modified for better food and faster growth. The laboratory was just filled with technological advances.

Malphite still didn't understand what all of these were for, "like I said, rushing everything."

"It'll be okay pal," Fate said, "we're almost done with the mission."

They soon approached one door with was labelled as "Test Room."

When they entered, it was a gigantic room around four football fields big and wide. There were machines all around for testing along with broken gears and cogs which probably meant that some were failed tests.

"Why would Heim need a place this big?" Warwick asked.

"I don't know Wolf Boy, but on the bright side, there's more room here." Jinx replied.

The group eventually faced in front of a room which was lit up in yellow lights and had a picture of the generator Heimerdinger once held in his hands.

"This is probably it, everyone ready?" Jinx asked.

Everyone nodded. They placed the professor once more to be scanned and the computer confirmed his presence. "Welcome back professor."

Out of nowhere, a spherical object appeared and started blaring alarms. With the team surprised, the ball unleashed a shockwave that pulled the entire team together, but not Heimerdinger.

A voice came from the room and said, "you're not the professor."

* * *

**9,000+ words! Geez, that was long and I'm tired! If anyone sees any mistakes or any signs of confusion, please tell me so that I may make some adjustments 'cause it's pretty sad if I failed to tell the story right.**

**Review Corner!**

**Gea5s: I don't know if the crackfic was a complement or not, but I do thank the fact that you gave it another shot! Yeah, I find it really hard to make stories interesting for readers, especially in the first chapter. I tried, and I think it worked I guess? Still, thanks!**

**Vievin: Thanks again for your support! I don't know if you're still there, but here's the newest chapter! People like you are what helps authors continue to show their creations to the world! And I will try not to make Jinx too OP.**

**Kerbal: To you Kerbal, I thank you for your continuous support since the first chapter. Hopefully, I will get back into gear and continue to write more and more! Thanks again!**

**Thanks again for reading! As always, any feedback will be very much appreciated! Enjoy your day!**


	7. Clockwork

**Author's Note:**

**Hey all! Thankfully many of you still remember that this fic still existed because it felt great being welcomed back despite a long hiatus. And as for the newcomers, thanks so much for all of your support!**

**This one is a bit rushed, so tell me if there's a lot of "huhs" and "whuts" and I'll see if I can clarify them eventually.**

Read on dear readers! And if you can, picture The Legend of Zelda music in the background. You know! The one whenever Link opens a chest!

* * *

~Piltover City - Heimerdinger's Lab~

The group of five were caught in a massive shockwave and were pulled together out of the room and around the ball. From the shadows, a silver and gold figure emerged. It was Orianna, the Lady of Clockwork. Her robotic figure was twitching... ticking as every second went by.

"You are Jinx-ADC, Thresh-Support, Warwick-Jungler, Malphite-Top, and Twisted Fate-Mid," the robot said, but based on her design, her mouth did not move, "you have trespassed this facility. By protocol, you should be arrested."

"Yeah, well what about you Clock Girl?" Jinx asked.

"Clock Girl?" Twisted Fate said in disbelief as he sat upright after the attack, "you're running out of nicknames aren't you little miss?"

Jinx put her hand on Fate's shoulder and pushed him back to the ground so that she could stand up; the gambler let out a small "oof."

"My name is Orianna, not 'Clock Girl.' Why are you here?" the iron maiden asked.

"We're here for the thing," Malphite said as he stood up slowly.

"And this thing you speak of?"

"We wish to, uh, acquire the generator," the green spectre replied.

Orianna then called the ball back to her side, "I cannot allow you to do that. That would be theft."

"We're not stealing it!" Jinx smiled, "Afro over there let us have it!"

"Af...ro?" Orianna's robotic voice said slowly.

Jinx pointed to Heimerdinger's unconscious body, and as the Lady of Clockwork turned, Jinx swapped voices to Heimerdinger's.

"Yes, I have allowed this group to borrow my generator. Please allow them to possess it," Jinx said.

Orianna did not respond at first, but then her head made a one hundred eighty degree turn from her neck, "I have made some observations. One is that when you spoke of 'Afro,' you were referring to the professor's history of the art of dancing."

"Seriously? HE was a disco dancer?" Warwick said in disbelief.

"Second," Orianna then return to her proper posture and the Ball extended its eyestalk out of its shell, "the professor's current statement contradicts his first order to me when he said, 'under no circumstances will you allow anyone to take the generator."

The five members started to get uneasy. Jinx's trigger finger was ready. Thresh grabbed his chain tighter. Fate prepared a few cards with his magic. Warwick was preparing to lunge. Malphite clenched his fists.

"Finally," the robot said, "the professor's vital signs show that he is unconscious, and yet his voice was heard... behind me."

That was when Orianna's eyes glowed red, and the Ball rushed itself at the group of five. The task force knew what the Orianna was capable of and so they focused down the Ball quickly. Unlike in the Rift where the Ball can just mysteriously pass through everyone and is untargetable, the Ball was indeed a very physical and tangible object that anyone could hit. Before the Ball could unleash another Shockwave, Malphite used his giant hands to grab it and threw it to a wall far away from the group. The Ball's light flickered for a while and it tried to get up, but it just remained stuck at the wall.

"Well that was easy," Jinx said contented.

"It would appear that you have hurt the Ball; he tells me that it hurts," Orianna's tone sounded dark, "it would also appear that you are operating on the belief that the Ball and I function as a single unit, just like in the Rift. Unfortunately..."

Orianna then transformed her two hands; her right hand was now a blowtorch and her left hand still had her fingers, but the fingertips were now holes capable of shooting bullets.

"... we are not," Orianna then jumped straight towards the team.

Twisted Fate struck first. He threw a handful of cards towards Ori but they were torched up to ashes with her hand. She then unleashed a small barrage of bullets aimed at the gambler, but Thresh threw his lantern to shield him. Jinx then shot back using her Pow-pow minigun, but to the group's surprise, the Lady of Clockwork emitted a reflector shield from the side of her arm and the bullets ricocheted off her. Jinx then swapped to Fishbones and launched a rocket at Orianna. The attack landed, but she was still shielded. As the smoke cleared, Orianna still rushed towards the group. Warwick howled loudly and lunged at her with his sharpened claws, but Orianna's cybernetic advancements allowed her to quickly grab the Blood Hunter's neck with one hand and she then return her blowtorch back to normal and attacked specific points around the wolf's arms and legs- his pressure points. As the wolf fell, the warden threw out his hook in hopes to catch the android, but Orianna caught the hook, wrapped her arm around the chain, and pulled hard. The warden lost his footing and was met with a clothesline, which knocked the breath right out of his chest.

Enraged, Malphite decided that he had seen enough. He lifted his arms and slammed them down to the android, but Orianna dodged the attack. Using her iron hands, she engaged in a pinpoint attack on Malphite's shoulder joints. Like a jackhammer, she rapidly pierced the giant's left joint and cracks started to form. Malphite tried to push her away, but the Lady of Clockwork held on and continued the assault. Soon, Malphite's left arm fell to the ground and the robot moved onto the next arm. The Shard of the Monolith roared and desperately tried to get Orianna off his body, but she remained, wrapping herself around his other arm and continued to dis-arm the giant. Within moments, Malphite's other arm fell off and the android kicked off the giant's figure, and due to the imbalance, he fell to his back. Malphite began to attempt to regenerate his lost limbs, but Orianna noticed this herself. She then positioned herself on top of Malphite's face, formed one fist, and proceeded to rapidly punch Malphite in a similar fashion as to how she disabled him. The giant, despite feeling multiple and rapid punches to the face, still tried to regenerate his limbs and tried to get the rampaging robot off him. However, Orianna simply added her other hand into the mix. After a few seconds, the regeneration stopped; there was no longer the attempt to heal.

Jinx and Twisted Fate, stunned from the sight that they saw, only let their jaws drop, and their legs started to shake. Orianna rose from Malphite's fallen body, stared at the two humans with a tilted head and said, "that was fun. Let's have more fun."

~?~

In a small, quiet room, where a small record player played a tune, a phone began to ring. The dimly lit room didn't reveal much of its surroundings; it had a couch with a couple of holes revealing its stuffing, a ceiling fan that was missing a blade, a work desk next to a wall with a bunch of photos, and nothing much else. The phone rang several more times until an arm reached out to pick it up. There was a gruff response after a couple of back and forth yes and no responses, the phone conversation ended and the phone was placed back on its receiver.

A lighter was lit and as the flame touched the head of a cigar, it revealed the face of a man who stretched out a small smile across his face. He then took a photo from his drawer and started to appreciate its value once more. Resting it back on top of his desk, he made four other phone calls, each saying the same response: "roger."

~Piltover City - Heimerdinger's Lab~

"RUUUUUUUUUN!" Twisted Fate shouted as he grabbed Jinx's hand and attempted to flee.

However, Jinx freed herself from his grip and sped away shouting, "HOLDING HANDS SLOWS YOU DOWN, STUPID!"

Twisted Fate looked back to check on Orianna, and he saw that she was headed right towards him. He looked at another direction far away from his current position and he teleported himself there.

After seeing the Card Master disappear, she searched for where the Loose Cannon went. She heard her footsteps going in the direction north-east of her, and checked back on the group behind her if they were still unconscious. After determining that they were not of any immediate threat, she went to recover the Ball.

"Come. We must continue the game," Orianna said as she helped her partner out of the wall. With a good tug, she freed the Ball and together, they were a great force to deal with. The Ball floated and emitted a noise of glee, and Orianna jumped on top of the Ball and they both sped towards the last known location of Jinx's footsteps.

"Hide and seek," Orianna said, "how amusing." She sounded like a child who was very excited to play a game. Most Champions in the League only perceive that Orianna had no special abilities and had to rely on the Ball. However, many forgot that Corin Reveck designed her to become a Champion herself, and since she was created before the Ball, she too possessed special abilities that would suit a Champion on the battlefield.

Meanwhile, Thresh started to regain consciousness. The green spectre's glow slowly brightened back to life and he groaned, "my spirit... aches..." He managed to get back onto his feet and he was shocked to see that Malphite's body was on the floor; his arms were separated from him and his face was... deformed.

"Oh merciful spirits," he said under his breath. Fortunately, he saw that Malphite's chest was moving; the giant was breathing once more. After seeing that small pebbles on the ground were moving slowly towards the Shard of the Monolith, the warden proceeded to Warwick's fallen body.

Thresh found Warwick on the floor breathing and his eyes were open. "Warwick, can you get up?" he asked.

"Can't. Body. Not. Moving." the wolf struggled to speak.

"Damn," Thresh swore. He decided to check on Jinx and Fate through their earpieces, "Jinx, Fate, are you two okay?"

"I'm okay, Orianna's in my sights," Twisted Fate said, "and she's-"

"RIGHTBEHINDMEDAMMIT," Jinx yelled.

That was when Thresh heard several gunshots behind him, and without a moment's notice, he ran towards the direction of the shots. He didn't have to worry much about Warwick since Malphite was regenerating; the two would be fine.

As the Chain Warden ran, he heard gunshots to his right, but after he ran to the right, he heard it go left. Despite him running at his own top speed, he still couldn't catch up to the two.

"Fate, where are they?" he asked. All he could see were machines and devices with flashing lights and beeping noises.

The gambler replied, "Jinx is probably getting excited because she's outrunning Orianna."

"NOT EXCITED! GETTING SCARED!" the girl screamed.

"Hang on Jinx!" Thresh and Twisted Fate said in unison.

Thresh proceeded to follow the sounds of the gunshots and noticed that they were getting closer and closer until he saw Jinx zoom by along with Orianna on top of her ball. Thresh only saw them for a second until he saw Twisted Fate run right behind them.

"Fate! Wait!" Thresh said as he grabbed his arm.

"What?! Can't you see-"

"That there's no way you'll catch up to them on foot?" Thresh interrupted.

Fate forced his arm away from Thresh, "tch, ya didn't have to rub it in," he said angrily, "you have a plan or what?"

As silence settled on the group's earpieces, Jinx was starting to get tired, "YOU TWO BETTER NOT BE DEAD!" Bullets flew by the adolescent's head and she was beginning to be very, very concerned, but she still had the energy to shout. "I SWEAR, I WILL KICK YOU BOTH IN THE BALLS SO HARD YOU'LL BOTH-" That was when Jinx saw a familiar green glow coming to her right and she made a last ditch effort to make the turn.

Orianna saw that Jinx took a right turn and pursued her target. Unfortunately, she was unaware that there was a trap waiting for her. Instead of meeting Jinx, she met Thresh's chain. Twisted Fate and Thresh stayed quiet in a corner with the hook in Fate's hands while Thresh held on to the further end of the chain, and placed his lantern on the ground. Once Jinx saw and took the lantern, Thresh pulled her away from danger and both trappers pulled the chain at the same time, causing Orianna and the Ball to run straight to the chain. The Ball hit the chain, which launched Orianna away and into a wall far away.

Although the Ball was separated from Orianna, it still attempted to attack the intruders. It rushed straight for Twisted Fate and attempted to headbutt the gambler, but Twisted Fate simply teleported away. As the ball turned around, it was met with Thresh's hook. The Chain Warden wrapped his hook around the ball, and with all his might, threw the machine to the very same wall Orianna was. The Ball crashed into Orianna's body and there was silence that came afterwards. However, Jinx wanted to be doubly sure, and used Fishbones to launch two rockets at Orianna's location and blew Heimerdinger's lab a new door.

As the three regrouped and saw dust cloud in front of them, Twisted fate patted Thresh on the back, "great plan Thresh! I knew tha-OWWHATTHEFU-"

Jinx fulfilled her promise.

Twisted Fate was on the floor with his hands covering his lower region, and tears were starting to come out of his eyes; he let out a small high pitch whine.

Thresh saw his fallen comrade and looked back at his ADC and saw fire in her eyes. Hell certainly hath no fury like a woman scorned. "N-now calm down, Jinx. I-I threw my lantern remember?" Thresh pleaded for her to spare him, but it was of no use.

Moments later, Malphite came in followed by a limping Warwick who was slowly recovering from his earlier encounter with Orianna. The two found Jinx standing while Thresh and Twisted Fate were on the floor, and the giant spoke, "we heard a crash, followed by a shriek."

"Oh Rocky! Wolfboy! Good to see you two!" Jinx smiled with glee as she hugged the giant rock being.

"What happened to Thresh and Fate?" Warwick asked.

"The paaaaaaaaaain..." Fate winced. He was still on the floor. Thresh was close by groaning.

"Oh, don't mind them, they just had some small accidents, they'll be fine," Jinx said.

"What is it? What happened?" Warwick asked Thresh.

"Jinx kicked both Fate and I below the belt," he said with a groan.

"Ouch," Warwick was suddenly hoping not to piss off Jinx anytime soon, "looks like some severe damage to you two."

Thresh motioned for Warwick to get closer and he said, "I'm okay," Thresh whispered to the wolf's ear, "perks of being a spectre is that some nerves are lost. It still hurts, but not as much as Fate."

"Then why the act?" the wolf whispered back.

"If she knew it didn't hurt me, she'd probably load up her Zap and do worse damage. Now get back to them while I 'recover' to my feet," Thresh whispered.

Warwick nodded and went back to check on Jinx and Malphite. Thresh turned to see Fate and saw the man grieving over the pain. Thresh smiled and winked at his fallen teammate, and he "limped" towards his friend to help him up.

Twisted Fate whispered, "you... sly... sonofa- owww," he cut himself midway because of the pain.

"Easy now, my friend," Thresh clung Fate's arm over him and helped him to move towards the group.

"That... hurt... so much..." Twisted Fate groaned.

"There's a saying, 'you hurt the ones you love,' is there not?" Thresh joked.

"Just shut up," TF threatened.

"Tee hee."

The entire squad turned around to where the maniacal laughter came from. The laughter was childlike in essence and yet had the tone of something darker.

"Tee hee. Tee hee hee. Hee. Hee." The laughter repeated itself a couple more times, and from the end of the path, stood Orianna along with her Ball.

"That was so much fun," she said monotonously, "the Ball and I agreed that this was the most fun we've had in a long time."

Orianna's spherical companion moved up and down and screeched with glee. The five other champions opposite of the android were already readying themselves for whatever was about to come, but after their first fight with the Lady of Clockwork, they felt their legs tremble after every footstep Orianna made.

"In fact," Orianna continued, "we want to have more fun."

"Tee hee hee. Tee hee." The childish laughter continued once, and what scared the group even more than Orianna's presence was that the laughter was coming from behind her.

From the broken hole in the wall, out came five figures and five other floating spheres. The group already had an idea of what or who those figures were and started to slowly back away.

Orianna took a step forward. Orianna took a step forward. Orianna took a step forward, followed by three more Oriannas. Every single Orianna model approached the group of five: Classic, Sewn Chaos, Blade Craft, TPA, Gothic, and Winter Wonderland.

"The more, the merrier," all the Orianna models said in unison.

In an instant, six sets of Orianna's sperical partner headed straight for the group. Jinx unleashed a flurry of bullets from her mini gun, but all the targets had the ability to produce a shield; the bullets were having no effect whatsoever.

"We have to retreat!" Warwick said.

Twisted Fate teleported away to safety, while Thresh, Jinx and Warwick ran away; Malphite stayed behind.

"Rocky! What are you doing?!" Jinx shouted as she ran.

"Go. Leave me. I will slow them down," the giant said.

Several of the Balls headed towards Malphite while some tried to go after the rest, but Malphite body-blocked them and pushed them away. Each Ball rammed itself into Malphite's body repeatedly, and Malphite toughened himself up and unleashed several Seismic Shards. Some managed to find their mark, and for those that were left, he pummelled them down with his Brutal Strikes. All the Balls gave distance between them and the giant, but that was when all the Oriannas attacked. All of them attempted to jackhammer Malphite down to the ground, but the giant had a different idea in mind. He Ground Slammed the earth several times and he hoped that was going to hurt them, but the robots jumped up at the exact same time and grabbed onto Malphite. Before they could dismember the Shard of the Monolith once more, Malphite used his Unstoppable Force to not only crash into the Balls, but also dragging the robots farther away from his friends.

Despite all his efforts, the Oriannas still attacked him from all directions. They have already started to detach Malphite's limbs and the spheres were preparing to release an amplified electrical shock. As Malphite embraced his defeat once again, he saw a very familiar object land near his feet, and without hesitation, he extended his arm and grabbed it.

With the force of Jinx, Thresh, Twisted Fate, and Warwick, the rock titan was pulled away from the robots. For good measure, Jinx prepared her Super Mega Death Rocket, and Twisted Fate brought up an idea. Before the Loose Cannon fired, he imbued her rocket launcher with his magic and a second later, a huge golden missile rocketed out of Fishbones and flew straight to the enemy group. The Oriannas raised their shields in time, and although it reduced the damage, it still applied the stun. With the danger halted momentarily, the team proceeded to run away.

"You... came back..." Malphite said as he slowly regenerated his wounds.

"Leave no one behind," Thresh said as he picked up his lantern.

"We have to go, they won't be stunned for long," Twisted Fate commented.

"Jinx," Fishbones "said," "Orianna works on clockwork technology right? But her Ball and her copies run on electricity right?"

"They do? I mean, I guess so Fishbones, what about it?" Jinx replied to her launcher.

The rocket launcher went silent and it took moments before Jinx got an idea. She looked around the laboratory and prayed that the egghead has the one object she was hoping for.

"Why are you running?" Orianna's voiced echoed far behind them.

"She's up again!" Thresh said.

Jinx saw a sign that said "Magnetism" to her right and ordered everyone, "RIGHT! GO RIGHT!"

Without question, everyone followed their leader and they reached a dead end with only a bunch of gadgets and gizmos on shelves on the side.

"Out! Wrong way!" Twisted Fate shouted.

"No Fancy Pants, if we're going to fight her, it has to be in here," Jinx said as she looked at the shelves and started to pick out some small things.

"You have a plan, I suppose?" Thresh questioned.

"Don't I always Match Stick?" Jinx smiled, "just keep her busy." She then sat on the floor and started disassembling parts of the machines she took.

Warwick sniffed the air and said, "she's here."

The Orianna models found the group and the Classic Orianna spoke, "found you!"

At once, all six of them ran straight for the group. Twisted Fate threw gold and red cards in hopes to stun or slow them down, but the Balls just put up their shields to assist in the advance of the androids. Malphite decided that it would be best to remove the spheres from the equation to give them a batter chance to stop the robots. He increased in size and charged at the enemy squad. In unison, the Balls formed a circular barrier together and stopped the giant in his tracks. However, with a mighty roar, the titan took one step forward, then another, and another until he was pushing the Balls away.

As the Oriannas targeted Malphite, they were faced with twisted Fate's cards. Some torched them to ashes, while others we not able to do so. With an opening, Thresh threw his hook at one of the stunned models. He hooked Gothic Orianna and threw her at the other models. Warwick lunged at Blade Craft and suppressed her down to the ground. As the chaos continued, Jinx was still busy assembling her plan together.

With Malphite keeping the spheres out of the way and Thresh, TF, and Warwick keeping the others down, it looked like the team had it under control, but unfortunately, Orianna had enough. TPA Orianna let out a high pitch screech which caused Warwick to be in pain, and he stopped his Infinite Duress, which allowed Gothic Orianna to retaliate and knock him out. With all Oriannas standing, Twisted Fate did his best to unleash a flurry of golden cards. As the cards flew towards the robotic group, each android caught one and threw it at Malphite's body. With six golden cards, Malphite stopped moving, which allowed the Balls to fly back to their respective owners and shielded them from incoming attacks.

TF tried to throw more cards, but they would just be disintegrated by the shields or by Orianna's torch. The robots rushed towards them, but Thresh used The Box and the five sided wall of souls appeared to slow down the robots. The Box managed to catch one, but there were still five more. Thresh thought it would be more effective to just raise one wall of The Box since the robots were only coming in one direction, and so he raised another wall, and another, and another.

Thresh managed to prevent five Oriannas from advancing, but as he tried to raise the last wall, Classic Orianna arrived and threw her Ball and ordered it to do Command: Shockwave. The Ball produced a shockwave around it which pulled both champions to the center, knocking the two champions out temporarily.

Malphite and Warwick slowly regained consciousness, and they saw all Orianna models dash straight for Jinx. Immediately, they got up and tried to warn Jinx, but they feared that they were too late. Warwick was on all fours and with all his speed, he tried to stop the robots, while Malphite attempted to use his Unstoppable Force.

As every Orianna lunged towards Jinx, the Loose Cannon quickly rolled to one side and left a dozen Flame Chompers at her original position. Her action was a surprise to Orianna and all of them got caught in the snares. In addition, Jinx also threw a special Flame Chomper at the robot group, which was made with various electromagnetic attachments to it.

A second later, the grenade bursted and unleashed an electromagnetic pulse, and all Orianna models except for the Classic Orianna dropped to the floor, and all the Balls fell to the ground. There was a total of twelve thuds that was heard in the laboratory.

"Now guys!" Jinx shouted.

Malphite took the response as a permission to crush everything. With his titanic arms, he smashed, bashed and crushed all of the robots into small bits and pieces. Only the original model managed to avoid the attack.

It was around this time Thresh and TF regained their strength and them along with Warwick joined up with Jinx and Malphite.

The lone Orianna stood in a corner facing five champions who managed to beat her and her android copies. "EMP technology," Orianna observed, "your strategy was successful."

"I KNOW RIGHT?!" Jinx skipped happily, "so, are you going to surrender or what?"

The Lady of Clockwork looked at the group of five and said, "my objective is to safeguard the generator." In an instant, Orianna changed both her hands into blade saws and lunged towards the group once more.

In a blink of an eye, Twisted Fate teleported behind the robot and grabbed both of Orianna's arms and teleported once more.

With a shriek, Orianna fell to the ground and Twisted Fate came from the shadows... holding both of the robot's arms. "Told ya so," the gambler commented.

Jinx, Warwick, and Malphite pictured what would have happened if Orianna was a real person and shivered, but Thresh used his hook and chain to bind Orianna tight. "There," the warden was satisfied, "any more ideas?"

Orianna looked to her sides, which showed her missing arms, and still looked at her enemies and said, "my objective it to safeguard the generator." She still tried to get up and fight and she struggled for it, but she couldn't.

"My objective... my objective..." she said repeatedly.

"I think we broke her," Malphite said.

"Chill out guys, lemme try something," Jinx said. Jinx then shouted, "Rokt, what do we do with Clock Girl?"

There was silence. The rest of the team wondered what she was doing.

"ROKT THE SIXTH! HELLO?" Jinx yelled. There was still no response.

"Jinx," Thresh asked, "what on earth are you doing?"

Jinx grinned towards her friends, "something cool."

~Piltover City - PSR Outer Ring~

Police were already forming a perimeter around the PSR. Caitlyn has called in for all available units to assemble at the PSR in hopes to stop the group of five once they exit.

At the center of all operations, stood Caitlyn formulating a plan for the future events. She has radioed snipers to stay around the surrounding buildings, ambulances to be on standby, a bomb squad, and many more just to prevent this disaster from being something worse.

The thing is, the five Champions are trapped in the PSR, but they have a hostage and probably the prized generator. She would have to remove the professor from the equation before they can go all out. Additionally, Vi and Jayce were also unconscious inside.

As the sheriff thought quietly, someone new came by. A motorcycle blared through the streets and the drove past the police barricades and arrived right in front of the sheriff. Policemen already prepared their pistols to arrest the man, but the driver simply parked his ride and lit a cigar.

"So you've come," Caitlyn said without having to look at who arrived.

The driver blew a puff of smoke in the air and said, "you called for me, and so you've got me."

Graves was in his Riot uniform and he had his trusty shotgun strapped to his back. "I tell ya sheriff, if it weren't for the fact that Fate was causin' trouble, I would have declined," the Outlaw puffed another small cloud of smoke, "my team will be here in a minute."

Without any warning, a certain police siren was heard throughout the night and a speeding blue object with a police siren on his head zoomed towards the PSR carrying a companion with a riot shield. The robot and passenger arrived next to Graves and stood in attention.

"Riot Blitzcrank. On duty." Blitzcrank's robotic and monotonous voice said as he saluted."

"Riot Singed, reporting." Singed replied as he saluted as well.

Graves smiled, "good to have you boys from Zaun arrive on time.

"Where's the other two?" Caitlyn asked.

Graves turned back at her and said, "do you have any idea how long it takes to lift a three hundred pound dog from the Shuriman desert to here?"

WIthout any warning, a spotlight came from the sky and the sheriff looked up and saw Kayle holding Nasus as they approached to drop the Curator down. Once Nasus landed, both him and Kayle stood next to Singed and Blitzcrank and saluted.

"Riot Kayle, present." Kayle said.

"Riot Nasus, here." Nasus said.

"Nasus," Graves commented as he took his cigar out and stepped on it, "how was the trip?"

"I had to make an appeal to the Emperor. He was disappointed that I have my duties for Shurima and for the Riot police, but I reassured him that I am fully devoted to his service." Nasus replied.

"Emperor Azir, eh? Tell him that if he needs any help with a riot, he can give me a call," Graves offered.

"I doubt he will need your offer, but I will still extend it to him," Nasus replied.

"So, what's the situation," Kayle asked.

Graves turned to Caitlyn again and asked with a smug look, "well sheriff? Care to enlighten us?"

"An hour ago, Jinx, Thresh, Malphite, Warwick, and-"

Graves interrupted her saying, "past details of your failures are not important. We need facts. Now."

"Hey, you can't talk to the sheriff like that!" an officer said.

Graves pinpointed which officer said that and approached him, and he looked straight into the officer's eye and said, "mind your own business kid. She was the one who called ME. So you don't get an opinion."

"Enough, Graves," Caitlyn said, "leave him alone."

Graves went back to the sheriff and gestured for her to continue.

"Five hostiles. Jinx, Thresh, Malphite, Warwick, and Twisted Fate. Multiple hostages. Some are in a panic room inside the complex. Priority Hostage is Professor Heimerdinger. Their target is presumed to be the new generator. Purposes unknown. A hostage was heard to be with the group, but Jinx has a voice synthesiser and can mimic voices. The barrier will deactivate in one hour. There is a police blockade around the PSR in the event that they try to escape." Caitlyn finished her report and she saw that Graves was satisfied.

"This barrier, can it be destroyed?" Graves asked.

"I have asked Ziggs about it, he said that they got some of the greatest minds together to create an impenetrable barrier," Caitlyn said.

Graves took out another cigar and lit it with a lighter, "Blitz, any comment?"

The golem scanned the barrier and its surroundings and said, "barrier is designed to reflect solid objects. However, one hour appears to be sufficient enough for the hostiles to reach their target and leave. No time to waste."

"Yeah, I hear ya," Graves said as he puffed out a smoke cloud. He thought for a moment, and looked back at his team and said, "we're going to break the barrier."

A lot of officers were dumbfounded when they heard him speak, but the rest of the Riot squad nodded and replied, "understood."

"Nasus, you're up," Graves said, "open the gates."

"Roger", the Curator of the Sands said.

Graves then went up to Caitlyn and said, "if we go in, get your people to find that panic room. Leave the rest to us. Understood?"

Caitlyn calmly nodded in agreement.

Nasus approached the barrier and brought out his baton and concentrated. Over the eons, he has lived and killed many from his Siphoning Strike, and as to how many stacks it holds, even he no longer remembers. He tapped the barrier with the tip of his baton and it indeed reflected the tap back. With one deep breath, he fully committed himself to destroy the barrier.

In an instant, Nasus unleashed his Fury of the Sands form and with one mighty swing, he released whatever power the souls of his fallen enemies have granted his Siphoning Strike.

With one blow, the earth shook.

The barrier still stood, but instead of knocking Nasus back, Nasus was still there, and the tip of his baton has passed through the barrier. Nasus roared and proceeded to bash the barrier with his empowered baton and as each hit struck the barrier, there was a small quake throughout the city of Piltover. As the policemen watched in horror as the might of Nasus was being displayed, only Graves and Caitlyn didn't flinch.

One last roar, the devastating beast brought down his baton, and with it, the power of countless souls. After the blow, the barrier started to fizzle in the air so much so that it was appearing for one second, and disappearing in the next.

Soon, the barrier was no more and Nasus returned to his original form and said with a smirk, "gate's open."

"Alright," Graves began as he stepped on his cigar, "Riot Team with me. We're going to go after the group. Sheriff, get the survivors and your fellow officers. Give me a radio so that your eyes are my eyes as well."

Caitlyn did as she was instructed and handed Graves a radio. She then turned to her squadron and said, "let's go let's go!"

Graves then turned back to his team, "alright Riot boys, girl, bot, and dog. Let's go kick some ass."

~Piltover City - Heimerdinger's Laboratory~

As the ground shook, everyone in Heimerdinger's lab felt uneasy thinking at first that there was an earthquake, but after repeated shakes, they assumed that something was coming for them. Something bad.

A familiar, yet dark voice broke the silence, "Jinx, are you there? There appears to be tremors around the PSR." Rokt managed to speak up to the group through their earpieces.

"Yeah, we're good," Jinx replied, "we have Clock Girl here with us. And you'd be surprised to hear what she says."

"I have failed my objective. Terminate me," Orianna said.

"Hey now, we're not going to do that," Twisted Fate said.

"I need to be replaced. That is how it goes," she said in reply.

"Hrmph," Warwick grunted, "first she's all 'let's have fun,' and now she wants us to take her head off."

"Like all machines, if one is defective, it needs to be replaced," Orianna said. "after all, I am a machine."

"Don't you have a dad? That Corin Reveck guy?" Thresh asked.

"Professor Reveck is not my father. He is Orianna's father, and my creator," Orianna said.

There was logic in her words since everyone in the League knew about her history. However, nobody felt that she should take her existence as a machine too seriously.

"Look, Clock Girl," Jinx said, "why are you acting like this?"

"My name is not 'Clock Girl,' and I am only thinking logically. Many believe that I am the embodiment of Professor Reveck's daughter, but after some time, I have come to the acceptance that I am not his Orianna, and that I am a machine," Orianna argued.

Jinx sighed and brought up Fishbones to talk, "Jinx, we're running out of time here."

"Yeah, yeah Fishbones, I know," Jinx told her launcher, "Rocky, can you go back to Afro and open the door?"

Malphite nodded and proceeded to do as he was instructed. The rest of them followed while also bringing Orianna's body as well.

"Ori," Fishbones continued, "a machine who couldn't fulfil one objective does not necessarily need to be replaced."

"True, however for the sake of efficiency and effectiveness, if there is a defect as to how that machine conducted its work, then it should be replaced with a better model," Orianna replied.

"There were external factors that hindered your objective, it's not your fault," Fishbones argued.

"Factors of which I could not handle with my own capabilities, but perhaps an upgraded model will," Orianna rebutted.

"She's being stubborn," Fishbones told Jinx, "logical, but stubborn."

"Once you release me, I will report my defectives to the professor and request him to find a substitute," the Lady of Clockwork said.

"Okay you know what? Quit being a child," Jinx told Orianna with a rather serious tone. In fact, the others took notice of this as well. "What's with this complete one hundred eighty degree mood swing huh? You screwed up once and now you want to end it all?"

"Yes," Orianna said blankly.

"Do you have any idea how many people in the world have given up only once and ended their lives? Do you know how many people out there became successful after hundreds of screw ups?" Jinx raised her voice even louder.

"They are human, I am not," Orianna replied.

"Oh really? Then are you wholly committed to self destruction?" Jinx asked.

"It is logical to find a replacement better equipped if a machine is incapable of doing its function," Orianna argued.

"Bah, machine, function, objective, you know what I think? I think that you're not a machine, Clock Girl, but a very lost girl who's seeking a purpose in life," Jinx retorted.

Orianna fell silent at first then said, "your logic falls on the rational that I am not a machine."

"Yes, and I am willing to help you understand that," Jinx replied.

Orianna laughed and then she asked, "and what makes you think that there's some humanity inside of me?"

"You laughed, and you like to have fun," Jinx stated.

Orianna fell silent once more as if Jinx's words had a grain of truth in them. Did she find Jinx's attempt to help her understand what it means to be human humorous? Did she enjoy fighting? Were these not emotions? Was her own logical thinking of being destroyed and replaced simply her making an excuse for her downfalls?

"... give me a new objective," Orianna requested.

"Come again?" Jinx asked.

"Give me a new objective," Orianna said louder.

"Why?" Jinx asked once more. Everyone else slowed down their pace so that they can hear the conversation.

"Because... because logically speaking, a machine operates best if it is given an objective, and that-" Orianna was cut off because it was starting not to sound like a logical choice, but rather... an emotional one. She then composed herself and said, "because I want to know what it means to be human."

"That's more like it," Jinx smiled, "now... I guess the best I could say is that your new objective is to find your purpose in life."

"Really, little miss, really?" TF asked in disbelief.

"Jinx, I'm one of the living dead, and my best answer to that question is to farm for souls," Thresh said.

"What? She wanted one! Since I can't just order her to do what I want, might as well make her objective finding herself her own purpose," Jinx argued.

"Previous objective deleted," Orianna said, "current objective saved. New objective is to find my purpose."

"That's right! Now come with us and we'll help ya find it!" Jinx said with glee.

"I forbid it," a dark voice said. Rokt was still monitoring the calls.

"Hey, she can come with us. She won't cause any trouble," Jinx promised.

"Yeah, Rokt," Warwick argued, "you saw her in action. She destroyed us."

"That is out of the question, so leave her there or I will activate the collars," Rokt threatened.

"She is coming with us," Jinx replied.

"Then you leave me no choice," Rokt said on all of their earpieces.

A few seconds after his message, nothing happened.

"I-I don't understand..." Rokt said.

"Yeah, about that, ya see, we figured that we best work when we're not on a leash," Jinx said as she pulled out a black collar from behind her back.

"... you removed them after the EMP grenade," Rokt stated.

"Yep," Jinx smiled.

"So that explains it," Rokt concluded, "fine. Some philosophers did say that fear is a bad motivator. She can join you. Though it will only be for a short while, since you're practically there."

"That's the plan," Jinx said.

Rokt's voice was no longer heard, and the group has arrived at the doors to Heimerdinger's generator. They found the professor still asleep and they picked up the tiny yordle once more and opened the door again.

"To think, this will finally be over," Twisted Fate said as he thought of his family.

"I can practically feel those souls," Thresh said as he clenched his fist.

"And I can practically smell those celestial hearts," Warwick said as he licked his lips.

"My home," Malphite said as he patted himself on the chest to where the small pebble he absorbed.

"Eh, t'was okay," Jinx said as she placed her hands behind her head as if she didn't really care, but everyone felt like she did.

They entered the room, and saw a chest at the center with a spotlight illuminating it.

"That chest has the generator," Orianna said.

"Alright boys, y'all ready to finish this?" Jinx asked everyone.

Each member of the group nodded.

Jinx, along with everyone in the group, surrounded the chest and opened it at the same time.

Right in front of their eyes...

Was an empty chest.

* * *

**Yep. I really hoped that you imagined The Legend of Zelda background music when they opened it. I was going to make Jinx do her best to hum it in front of the group...**

**In any case, I could have finished this last week by ending it around the time where the Orianna models came out to fight (imagine if I cut it when Orianna said "the more the merrier" paragraph).**

**Additionally, it was rather... awkward trying to type these out. I tried to avoid using "Orianna" and "her Ball" in the same sentence. So I had to use other words like "partner" or "sphere" to avoid saying what you think I'm saying. **

**Review Corner!  
**

**Vievin: I kinda figured you'd be back XD And don't worry, I don't think I'll be getting rid of you anytime soon. As long as you understood the story, then minor issues like those are okay. I am washing off my hands to those who think I ship Jinx and TF, but to people like you who do, I do include some minor teasing. The "little miss" thing should be the most notable one. I have no idea what you meant by "dat comeback" 'cause I don't know which one you meant ._.**

**Kerbal: Good to hear from you again! Well, if there are people out there who support authors, then they should also feel some warm recognition for their efforts! Thanks for your comment that it was very clear since it was a pretty big chunk of text, and it's quite easy to get lost in, and I know I can count on you to read and tell me if there are issues with what I've wrote. Yeah, September and the other "ber" months do make people feel lazier. **

**kojh0124: Welcome new reviewer to the review corner! Thanks so much for the review! Yeah, I think people generally feel that stories get better since the first few chapters are usually the introduction ones, and unless there's a great catchy thing dangling right in front of them, it does take time for people to want to continue any further, but I'm glad that you and many others have chosen to read further! Thanks so much!**

**K.O.B: I do hope that this chapter clears up the cliffhanger from before! Although I do hope that this new "cliffhanger" won't be so sudden. I at least think that people were definitely expecting that ending... Thanks again for your review and your support!**

**Guest: Thank you Mr. Anonymous Guest! I am not entirely sure as to which comedic chapters you are referring to (or the awesome ones as well), but if I've been doing okay until now and since I'm still progressing, I think there will still be more to come! Thanks again for your support and the review!**


	8. Riot!

**Author's Note:**

**(Summons inner Whitney Houston) And IIIIIIIIII-E-IIIIIIIIIII am done with schoOOOOOOOOOOOL!**

**Tis the season to be jolly! Merry Christmas y'all! Thank you for being patient with me as I write this story. We're pretty much at the half-way point... I think... This is the most I've wrote thus far. Like seriously, 13,000 words ain't a joke.**

**Since I'm unreliable on my previous "I'll make a reflection blog every month" thing, I'll just do one every four chapters. Thanks to these eight chapters, I've conquered my fear of posting because it seems natural. I don't have to face the anxiety of "oh gosh will anyone like this" since I've received good feedback. Although, negative ones won't be so bad :P**

**From a previous 374 who have clicked the link to a whopping 2,112, I would like to thank you all for even showing the slightest interest in my story! You're all the best! We now have 20 followers, 16 favourites and 18 reviews! I hope to continue on and keep writing with all of your best interests at heart. I hope that I won't disappoint! And from a previous 67 who have followed through till the end of chapter before, we're now around double that amount! Cheers to the earlier supporters and even bigger cheers to the new ones! I'm so glad that even the reviews are coming from the same awesome people! You know who you are!**

**So yeah, keep up with the feedback! Any feedback will be acceptable! Just PM me if you want to tell me something if you're shy, or just be anonymous. Any communication I can have between me and you will help me in writing in the future. Remember! Feedback is better than feeding! ^_^**

**tl;dr 13,000 words, reflection every 4 chapters, you are all awesome people, feedbacks feeding.**

**So here you all go! One last chapter before the holidays! Enjoy!**

**Disclaimer: I do not write fight scenes. I don't know how to narrate them since I'm all like, "this happened, and that happened with a boom somewhere in the middle." I'm more of a suspense and cliffhanger writer with a little mystery* in it.**

* * *

~Piltover City - Heimerdinger's Lab~

Jinx took deep breaths and placed her hands on the chest once more. "Where's the generator... THERE IT IS!" She opened the box, but it still didn't change the fact that it was carrying nothing inside. She closed it again and shouted, "THERE IT IS!" She opened it again, but it was still empty.

As Jinx tried to change reality by repeatedly chanting and opening and closing the chest, the others were... quite disappointed.

Twisted Fate was on the floor leaning one side to a wall with his head down murmuring something about debt and family. Warwick kept hitting his head on the wall and cursing after every hit. Thresh brought up his lantern next to his face and as he watched a couple of souls dance around the object, but it still reflected his gloomy face. Malphite took out the small pebble from his chest and looked at its tiny and insignificant frame, which he felt was bigger than he was because while others saw a small rock, he saw his home.

Everyone except for Jinx, who just kept shouting, let out a loud groan.

Orianna, who still has no arms, stood up and inquired, "what are you all doing?"

"We're moping, that's what we're doing," Twisted Fate said.

"Why are you moping?" the android inquired, "in your expressions, 'it's not the end of the world.' I'm logically the one who should have the most dissatisfaction."

"Oh yeah? And why is that?" Thresh asked.

Orianna looked at the spectre and said, "you haven't given me back my limbs yet."

Thresh, who held onto the chain that was wrapped around Orianna with one hand, remembered that he had her two limbs on the other. "Touché," he said as he let the robot go and left the arms next to her feet.

"Are you disappointed because the generator is no longer there?" the robot asked.

"Oh not really, I mean, I have this itch and all- OF COURSE BECAUSE IT AIN'T THERE!" Warwick shouted. "Was it even in there in the first place?"

"Affirmative," Orianna replied as she scanned the empty chest, "it was here prior to our engagement."

"Then where has it gone?" the chain warden asked as he approached the box.

"I do not know," the Lady of Clockwork stated as she scanned the box with her optics, "there are no signs of fingerprints either."

Jinx held up her rocket launcher and spoke in Fishbone's voice, "are you positive that the generator was here, Orianna?"

"Affirmative," the robot replied.

"Well then," Fishbones continued, "that leaves only one possibility."

Everyone soon gathered around the box and awaited the adolescent's weapon to speak. With a deep breath, Jinx said, "it was stolen."

Silence followed afterwards. The six champions stood still as they processed what Jinx said and almost in unison, they complained.

"No way."

"Impossible."

"You gotta be kidding me."

Each of them were giving off excuses and possibilities as to why it was not possible. Arguments started out strong saying that they were pretty much fighting at the only entrance and exit to the room. The chamber holding the generator had no vents or hatches that would allow spies in the movies to break in and steal it. Even if they managed to get in, how did the robber or thieves get in and out without being seen or hurt by all of the chaos? Without a trace. Not even a scent.

Warwick saw that Orianna was leaving the chamber and pounced on her, pinning her down to the ground, "And where the hell are you going? Running away?" he howled. He showed off his fangs and claws in front of the android's eyes.

"I am off to find the Ball," Orianna said without changing her usual tone as if she wasn't scared of the beast.

"Like hell you are! You probably know where the generator really is! For all we know, you hid it so that we could never find it!" Warwick was slowly losing his patience and really, really wanted to hurt something.

"I shall repeat myself once more: the generator was there before I went to combat you," Orianna replied, "since you are all creating distraught and discord amongst yourselves, I do not feel obligated to stand idle while the Ball is not by my side. I need the Ball to repair my arms."

"To attack us once more?!" Warwick howled.

The others were now concerned. Some don't want Warwick to harm Orianna, but others also don't want to fight Orianna once more.

"Calm down Wolf Boy," Jinx said, "let her go. Now's not the time to argue."

Warwick snarled back at the group. He wanted to slash Jinx's face. Gnaw on Twisted Fate's bones. Claw off Thresh's legs. And possibly fight off Malphite. But more importantly, he wanted bloodshed.

That was when alarm bells rang. Warwick immediately got up to his feet and leapt over the group and gave a great distance between him and the others. It was happening again. His thirst for blood and yearning for bloodshed. He had a brief moment earlier where the beast inside him consumed his actions and look where Jayce and Vi ended up.

"Give me... a moment," the wolf snarled.

The team, who were surprised to see this kind of behaviour from Warwick, took the hint and didn't approach him.

"That was a notable performance," Orianna said as she still laid on the floor, "now, if any of you would be so kind as to help me up."

The group glanced back at Ori and gave off a small chuckle at the sight of the robot's figure lying on the floor with her removed arms.

"You look like a toy," Fate said as he helped her up.

"I suppose my current exterior in this situation would bear some resemblances," Orianna mentioned, "so will anyone accompany me to fetch the Ball?"

"I can go," Malphite offered.

"Okay Rocky!" Jinx smiled, "take care of Clock Girl okay? She's one of us now!"

Orianna, still in her expressionless state, tilted her head to the side and said, "my name is not 'Clock Girl,' and what do you mean 'one of you?'"

"Don't you get it? You're part of the team now!" Jinx gave her a hug but it didn't last long since the adolescent's hug threw the android off her feet and fell to the ground once more.

As Jinx let off a small "oops," Orianna gave a small high pitch sound and said, "you are too naive."

Soon after, Malphite and Orianna left the room in search of the Ball.

With their exit, the four remaining champions were left to figure out what to do with the missing generator.

"Come on boys!" Jinx yelled, "we don't have much time before the barrier dissipates. I'm guessing we have less than an hour to find all the evidence we need to catch the thief before the feds show up. So let's all look for clues!"

"And what sort of clues are we supposed to look for?" Thresh asked.

Jinx shrugged, "I don't know. But clues are usually blue right?"

Twisted Fate shook his head, "the best ones are clues that can identify if another person's been here or not."

"Well, you're wasting your time," Warwick howled. The wolf man has calmed down and regained his composure, "I've sniffed the area, and there are only our scents along with Heimerdinger's."

"Yeah, well what if you missed something?" Jinx suggested.

"Miss something?! How do you miss scents?! You breath don't you?" Warwick yelled.

"Hey now, everyone gets careless, so Match Stick, help Wolf Boy smell the area," Jinx said as she got on all fours, "I'll check for footprints."

"Do I really have to sniff the air?" Thresh complained.

"Naw, Fancy Pants can help you too!" Jinx smield.

"And do you have a special device to help you see footprints, Jinx?" TF asked.

Jinx used both hands and pointed at her eyes, "these, duh!"

As Jinx looked and searched for any footprints, Thresh and Fate took a deep breath and sighed. As much as they want to follow their self-proclaimed leader, this was ridiculous.

"I don't hear any sniffing boys! Nor do I see any clues," Jinx said.

Warwick approached the box and stood next to the warden and gambler, "bah, I'll check it out again." He stuck his nose in the box and took a long and deep breath and said, "there's nothing new."

"Guys! I found a strand of hair!" Jinx yelled with excitement, "it's blue! And long and... oh wait, it's mine."

Warwick wanted to shout and Jinx, but what caught his eye was that both Thresh and Fate were suddenly smelling the air repeatedly as if they caught something he missed. Not wanting to be belittled by humans who don't have wolf-like senses, Warwick sniffed the air around them and caught a scent. The scent did not come from the box nor the room they were in, but it came from some place far away, and it was getting closer and closer.

"Guys, someone, or some people, are coming here!" Warwick said.

Thresh and Twisted Fate ignored the wolf's statement because they were trying to identify what that specific scent was. For both of them, it was a scent that was rather... familiar to them.

"Who is it Wolf Boy? Is it Fat Hands?" Jinx asked as she stood up.

Warwick smelled the air once more, "it's not. I smell a cigar, and rusted metal coming here. Pretty sure it's Graves and Blitz, but-" he suddenly identified more scents and stated, "along with Nasus, Kayle, and... Singed." As he said his comrade's name, he was deeply concerned if Singed was going to let him go, but he knew that it won't be the case.

Jinx pulled out her launcher and spoke in her Fishbones voice, "it appears that they managed to break through the barrier."

"But how Fishbones?" Jinxed asked her weapon, "it's not supposed to go off this early!"

"Well, since they're here," Fishbones said, "then the only conclusion is that they found a way to destroy the barrier in time. Quickly! We have to get the others and leave!"

"You got it Fishbones!" Jinx replied, "Wolf Boy, go meet up with Rocky and Clock Girl and tell them that we're gonna book it outta here."

Warwick nodded and dashed away to regroup with their allies.

Jinx looked back at the two who were still next to the empty box and shouted, "we gotta go! Come on!"

"This scent..." Thresh slowly said out loud, "it's... it smells like..." He knew what it was, it's at the very tip of his tongue...

"It's... Nightbloom," a voice said.

With widened eyes, Thresh turned to the only individual who stood next to him and with a ghastly look on the warden's face, he asked, "Fate... you know of the flower?!"

Twisted Fate tipped his hat to cover his face and gave a small nod.

Surprised, Thresh took a small step back, "but how? You're-"

Jinx, who was shorter than the two figures, extended both her arms and pinched Fate's ear and grabbed Thresh's hair-antenae-thing, shouting, "WE ARE LEAVING!"

"Ow! Ow! Hey! My ear!" Twisted Fate yelled.

"Ouch! Okay! We're going! We're going!" Thresh screamed.

Jinx let go of her captives and grabbed the empty box. The three of them then raced out of the room to meet with their friends. They regrouped with Malphite and Warwick as a slightly damaged and barely floating Ball was repairing Orianna.

"So what now?" Malphite asked.

"Wolf Boy, where are they?" Jinx asked as she placed the box down and tried to help Orianna repair her arm.

"Their scents are still far away," Warwick said after sniffing the air a couple of times, "they probably just left the elevator and are on their way to that big test room."

"That gives us what, five minutes?" Twisted Fate said.

"I'd say less," Warwick replied, "so are we going or what?"

"Yeah... about the exit plan..." Jinx shrugged and scratched her head, "ehe... it's at the other side of the testing facility..."

"Wait, little miss, you don't mean..." Twisted Fate was reluctant to put two and two together, or rather putting five champions next to five together.

"We must fight out way through," the titan said. As much as he did not want to cause any more trouble than they already did, there seemed to be little to no options left for the team to take.

"So Fate, you know Graves right?" Warwick asked, "got a plan on how to face him?"

Twisted Fate shook his head, "if it were just Graves, then I'd say just let Thresh hook his shotgun, but since he brought the Riot Squad, it's a whole new story."

The Cardmaster then brought out five cards from a deck of cards and showed them to the team. "If you think about it, their team does what a riot police does: counter-engage. Graves is their leader," he said as he showed a King of Spades card, "and can supply suppressing fire and a smokescreen. Then we have Blitzcrank," he said as he showed a Ten of Clubs card, "and I'm sure you all know what he does."

"Oh, I'm very sure," Thresh said, "after all, I've had to save MANY of you countless of times because of him."

"Correct," Fate agreed, "and although Blitz's hook may seem to be a form of engaging, it's more of an added bonus on initiating certain picks against major targets. Other than that, he has a knock-up and silence." He then showed a Jack of Diamonds and continued, "Singed can take hits, run and cause havoc, and toss anyone towards their team."

"With his shield, he can also defend their team from a fire fight," Warwick said as he remembered what his comrade was capable of, "and let's not forget about the gas. He won't always have it on since he might hurt his team. Just remember: don't chase Singed."

"Agreed," Fate nodded, "and now we have Nasus, their Ace, he is the biggest threat because of his Siphoning Strike."

"Yep yep Fancy Pants," Jinx said without turning away from Orianna's arm, "Fishbones theorised that it's because of that attack that the barrier broke. Probably 'cause of how many dead souls he's whacked over the years."

"Therefore, should he Wither anyone or even allowed the slightest opportunity to get close to you, AND if Thresh can't save you in time, it's good night," Twisted Fate said, "so we better make sure that that does not happen."

Everyone around the room agreed. Although they had Thresh to get them out of fights, they cannot afford to be careless with a rampaging dog of death running around with an almighty strike.

"Which leaves one last person," TF said as he brought out the Queen of Hearts card, "Kayle is the major problem because not only can she shred armour and magic resist, she can also attack in the air, which is something we're at a disadvantage of. And to top it all off, her Intervention is the biggest pain in the ass to anyone wanting to hurt their team. The instant she thinks that any of us will burst anyone down, it only takes a second of Intervention's power to nullify our efforts, which means she's going to be very annoying."

There was dead silence that surrounded the room. What could they do against the Riot Squad? If they fight, they risk getting up close, getting grabbed or flung to a big angry dog. If they try to run, then Graves would be free to unleash free damage to them, and Kayle can halt their efforts by attacking from above. Finally, what can they even do against Kayle's Intervention?

"Perhaps I can be of assistance?" Ori suggested. The android stood up and stretched her arms to check if they were fully repaired and ready to go. "We might be able to formulate a strategy with me against the current circumstances."

"Look, Ori, I know you want to help and all," the gambler said, "but we're the criminals here, not you."

"That issue does not matter," the cyborg replied.

"I'm serious," TF replied with a louder voice, "if you help us, you'd mark yourself as our accomplice and walk a path that you may not like."

"This 'path' you mention should not be decided by you," Orianna said as she hugged her Ball, "I want to be of assistance, after all," she then looked at each and everyone's eyes and ended up looking at Jinx, "I am one of you now."

Jinx was flushed with so much emotion that she hugged Orianna once more, and as a sign of acceptance, the robot girl wrapped her mechanical arms around the adolescent. As much as the others are reluctant to have their newly appointed member join, they knew that their options were limited.

"That is enough, let go of me," Ori said.

"Naw Clock Girl!" Jinx said, not letting her go, "I was so touched! We're going on a girl's night out after this!"

Orianna was attempting to rationalise the young girl's motives, but as much as she wanted to dive into the psychology of the "menacing psychopath" Piltover talks about, she knew that they did not have much time left.

"How did you originally plan to escape?" Orianna said as she and the Ball tried to break free of Jinx's hug.

"Well, to be honest," Warwick said, "all of us except Fishbones suggested for Malphite to bust us out of here."

"I still won't," Malphite grumbled.

"Fortunately, Fishbones brought up an idea," Twisted Fate said. However, before he continued, he looked back at Thresh who remained silent ever since their arrival. Twisted Fate raised an eyebrow, but he knew, he knew, what the Chain Warden was thinking about. "I'll explain later, friend," he said to the spectre.

Thresh crossed his arms and replied with a ghastly voice, "oh, you better. Everyone should know about this."

"What should we all know about Match Stick?" Jinx asked as she was removed from her hug.

"I-it's nothing," Twisted Fate stuttered, "so how are we going to get away?"

Everyone looked straight at Jinx who was suddenly humming along her favorite tune: Get Jinxed. It wasn't long until she finally realised that they were all looking at her for answers. "What? I don't have any ideas! Let's ask Fishbones!"

Behind everyone's minds, that's what they were waiting for. They were not expecting a full blown plan, but what they happened to receive was the best possible strategy that anyone could have thought of. Fishbones, or Jinx rather, absorbed all of the information earlier and formulated a strategy to go against the Riot Squad.

Jinx placed the rocket launcher on top of her right shoulder and moved its jaw up and down, "hm... this won't be easy, but..."

* * *

"We are approaching the main testing facility," Blitzcrank stated.

The Riot Squad managed to secure all of the scientists in the safe house and they directed all twenty four of them to meet with Piltover's police. They also helped Vi and Jayce recover from their scarring wounds (Kayle did her best to apply medication.) However, despite their best efforts, they still have not found the professor or the rouge group.

"We should be getting close," Nasus said, "there's not much room left in this facility."

"Hmph, I am rather impressed by Heimerdinger's laboratory," Singed said with a hint of jealousy, "the tiny one has made many successful machines and judging by the one's I've seen as we passed through, I should give him a call sometime."

"Before you make any new friends," Graves said, "better make sure you keep your old friends on a leash."

"Excuse me," Singed retorted, "but I am not Warwick's master. He has his own free will, and how was I supposed to know that he would form a team?"

"It is rather odd don't you all think?" Kayle said as she flew above her team, "none of them have anything particular in common. Jinx loves to cause mayhem, but Malphite remains to be a neutral party in any involvement. Factor in why would they work with Fate, Thresh, and Warwick, it is almost unreasonable."

"Agreed," Graves replied, "and fighting them would be rather difficult. If you think about it, they're more of an all-in since Warwick can suppress one person, Twisted Fate can stun and hurt multiple targets, Jinx can shoot and snare us, which will definitely be a pain in the ass, Thresh can hook people and save his team mates, and Malphite can do what Malphite does best."

"Which makes Malphite the biggest, and literally the biggest problem," Nasus commented.

"Malphite is big enough to be a bodyguard for his team or a wrecking ball," Singed said.

"In addition, the spectre is an invaluable asset to their team," Kayle stated, "for not only can that demon catch one of us, he can delay us with his Box and save his team mates if we grab of fling them."

"However, if you think about it," Singed said, "if we eliminate Malphite and Thresh, the rest would be easy pickings would they not?"

"You are correct Singed," Graves agreed, "once the bodyguard-initiator and their life saver's gone, Jinx, Thresh, and Warwick can't handle us."

"I shall do my best to catch them then," Blitz commented.

Graves and his Riot squad approached a giant empty room, which was labeled as Heimerdinger's Testing Facility.

"Attention. Heat signatures detected." Blitzcrank said in his robotic voice.

Graves lifted up a fist to signal everyone to halt their movements. The Riot squad did as they were told and formed a group stance with weapons out. There was only one other entrance aside from the one they came from which was directly opposite to them.

A few meters away, they saw Jinx, Malphite, Twisted Fate, Thresh, and Warwick appear from the shadows. Along with them, Thresh was carrying the unconscious professor, Jinx held a box, and Twisted Fate had someone right next to him.

Graves smiled and pulled out a cigar, "well well Fate," he shouted, "nice bunch of friends you got there."

Twisted Fate tipped his hat and replied, "as do you. Although, do they know of the last friend I had? As I recall, he was an outlaw and a conman."

Graves lit his cigar and laughed, "unlike you, I've shed blood, sweat and tears for this group. We have rose through the ranks to become an elite force that protects citizens from people like you. If I turn away from this path, they would not hesitate to take me down."

"Quite the reformation," Fate applauded, "or rather, quite the act."

"Enough talk," Kayle said. She activated her wings and hovered from the ground, "cease this nonsense and come quietly." She then pointed her sword against the group and finished with, "or justice will be delivered swiftly and harshly."

"Yeesh," Jinx complained, "calm down a bit why don'y ya?" In Jinx's mind, she knows that Kayle would indeed be a critical factor in the execution of their escape plan, which is why there was a certain chill that grasped her neck.

"Silence!" the Judicator demanded, "release your hostages and surrender yourselves or you will all be eradicated!"

Nasus shook his head, "Kayle, in all my eons, there has yet to be a criminal to have willingly surrendered after statements like those." The bruiser gripped his police baton tightly, "the best way to communicate with these types of people is through force."

"That may be true, fellow ancient one," Thresh stated, "but you are forgetting that we have hostages." The Chain Warden lifted the yordle's body in front of his and said, "we wouldn't want the professor to get hurt now would we?" He then dragged his finger across Heim's neck as a warning to their opposers.

Each side knew the risks of taking action and neither one of them wanted to make the first move. For the Riot squad, they would first have to extract the hostages before anything else, while for the Task Force, they had to escape the facility with the increasing risks of danger as time goes by.

Blitzcrank scanned the hostage next to Twisted Fate and found that it wasn't human and that it was... "They have Orianna!" Blitzcrank exclaimed. More steam was produced and the golem was prepping his fists to fight.

"Oh? Was that the hostage they took earlier?" Singed questioned, "I haven't heard that she was here."

"Looks like they've got your girl Blitz," Graves said as he took a puff of his cigar, "can you even reach her?"

Blitzcrank "scratched" his metallic head, "Orianna is not a girl, but yes, I can reach them from this distance."

"Hmph, you didn't deny it," Graves said quietly.

"I beg your pardon?" the golem asked.

In an attempt to get back to the point, Singed shouted, "really Warwick? A generator? What happened to chasing after Soraka's heart?" Singed let out a mischievous laugh almost as a taunt against his old friend.

Warwick grew angry, "believe me when I say this Singed, but I'm doing this to finish the formula you once gave me." He then pointed back at Singed with his sharp claws saying, "besides, I can't believe that a mad scientist like you became a well respected officer!"

Singed laughed even more, "if Mundo can run a successful corporation, then I am very capable of assisting in subduing riots." He then stared back at Warwick's eyes and behind that mask, Warwick knew that Singed was smiling, "I made a deal with the higher ups. I help them with riots like these, and they allow me to continue my experiments. Monitored, of course."

"So tell me Fate," Graves asked as be puffed out some smoke, "the generator's in the box I presume?"

Twisted Fate did not reply. In fact, none of the others did, and that was enough to answer Grave's question.

"So what's a gambler, a psychopath, a spectre, a wolf, and a giant rock want with a generator?" Graves asked once more.

"Just let us go Graves," Twisted Fate declared, "we don't want to fight."

Graves, with his hands behind him, took a step forward in front of Singed and both the Riot Squad and the Task Force readied themselves for a brawl, but Graves raised his hand to signal his team to stand down. "Neither do we, so we might as well see if we can all come to terms..."

Graves released one more puff of smoke before throwing his cigar to the floor. As he stepped on the cigar, a small object was thrown up into the air. The Task Force looked up to see what it was only to realise that it was too late.

Earlier, as Graves raised his hand, his other hand behind him gave a signal to his Riot members to initiate the retrieval of the hostages. So when Graves dropped his cigar, Singed prepared a flash grenade, and since Graves was in front of the Mad Chemist, the opposing side could not see the plan unfold. When the flash bang was released into the air, the entire Riot Squad shielded their eyes and once it went off, the light blinded the Task Force long enough for Blitzcrank to launch his two arms to grab both Heimerdinger and Orianna from their enemies. Once both hostages were rescued, Blitz attempted one more grab for the box; he launched one hand towards Jinx.

The Task Force slowly recovered from their blindness only to be greeted by a loud shriek. Thresh saw Jinx getting caught by a familiar yellow fist causing her to drop the box in front of them and scream.

"MAAAAAATCHSTIIIIIIIIIIIIICK!" Jinx yelled as she was pulled towards the Riot Squad.

"JINX!" Thresh yelled back.

When Jinx landed on the floor in front of the Riot Squad, she was slowed by Kayle and withered by Nasus, and Nasus himself stood above the Loose Cannon with his baton empowered with his Siphoning Strike.

Thresh immediately threw his lantern and it landed right next to Jinx's hands, but before she grabbed it, Graves shot it, knocking the lantern a distance away from her. Jinx saw Nasus bring down his baton and she swears that she has never been so scared in her life.

However, the instant Graves shot the lantern away, Twisted Fate immediately teleported to where the lantern was mid-flight and kicked it right back at Jinx. The lantern touched Jinx's fingertips and Jinx, either instinctively or unconsciously, grabbed it with all her might. The instant the chain moved, Thresh immediately pulled the lantern towards his group. The baton swung down as Jinx was dragged out, and Jinx had to spread her legs to avoid the swing from hitting her. The ground where Jinx once was cracked and the ground shifted slightly with the power of the siphoned souls. Jinx was soon caught in Thresh's arms, and Twisted Fate teleported back to the group with very angry eyes staring back at Graves.

Graves applauded the performance. "Her knights in shining armor!" he joked, "not bad, not bad at all."

"Are you alright? Are you hurt?" Kayle asked as she took off the golden cloth from Heimerdinger's mouth.

Heim was still unconscious but Kayle had enough reason to believe that he was in no danger whatsoever.

"Orianna. Can you still function?" Blitzcrank asked the android as she slowly sat upright.

"I am well. You have my thanks," Orianna said as she stood up, "where is the professor? I must get him to safety."

"He's here," Kayle said, "he's uninjured." The angel then pointed to a door and said, "take him through there. You'll be able to meet up with the Piltover Police who can get you all to safety."

"Understood," Orianna replied. She picked up the professor's exhausted body and ran straight for the exit in a hurry.

Once the android was out of sight, Nasus told Graves, "hostages have been rescued."

Graves nodded, "then let's continue." Graves loaded up his shotgun and the others prepared themselves to fight. "Listen everyone, they won't be fooled by the same trick twice. We have to retrieve and protect the package. Use any means necessary to secure the objective. Once we have the package, we'll have to arrest these felons"

"Roger!" the Riot Team shouted in unison.

Meanwhile, the Task Force was also prepared for a fight. Malphite and Warwick were eager to get out of the PSR and psyched themselves for a brawl. Thresh let go of Jinx who had every intent on getting revenge for the earlier craze. Twisted Fate, however, tipped his hat and said, "one more time Graves. Just let us go. There's a lot of things you still don't know."

Graves was not too keen on receiving a threat, "you five have caused havoc in Piltover, kidnapped Heim, breached the PSR, and are currently attempting to take the generator. What's left to know?"

"Just as stubborn as always," TF replied as he drew out a card, "fine then."

The two groups prepared themselves for a battle. Guns were out, fists were clenched, and everyone was already eyeing a target to strike. All they were waiting for was a signal to start.

"Listen up Riot Squad," Graves said. Every person in the Riot Squad didn't loose their sights on their target and didn't change any movements, but they paid attention to what their leader was saying. The Outlaw then continued, "lemme tell you a little secret to Twisted Fate's powers."

Opposite of Graves, Twisted Fate felt sweat slowly rolling down his face.

"He's the slipperiest one of that bunch because of his teleport," Graves said with a mischievous grin across his face, "however, unlike in the Rift, he CAN'T just teleport to a new location by his own will alone. He has to SEE where he's going. Additionally, do NOT let him teleport while touching you. If he does, then you can kiss that part of yours goodbye. So if we're going to catch him, we have to blind him."

The Riot Squad didn't reply to Grave's statement, but they acknowledged it and kept that in mind.

"So Fate," Graves laughed, "what do you have to say to that?"

Fate took a step forward from his team and said, "guys, if there's one thing you have to know about Graves that would be critical information in the future, this will be it."

The others behind Fate looked at each other wondering what was so important to know about Graves that could help them beat him. Was it a weakness? Was it a trick to dodge his shots? Was it the brand of cigar he buys?

Twisted Fate took a deep breath and shouted, "GRAVE'S MIDDLE NAME IS-"

Graves instantly fired centimeters away from Twisted Fate's feet and the gambler immediately stopped his statement, but TF had a very wide smile on his face, and Graves saw it.

Infuriated, Graves shouted with all his might, "RIOT SQUAD! FORWARD!"

In that very instant, ten champions went into battle. Kayle initiated by zooming through the air and striking the Task Force her Righteous Fury in hopes to reduce their armour and magic resist. However, Thresh placed his lantern in the middle of his team and gave everyone a shield to mitigate the damage. Jinx launched both rockets and bullets towards Graves, but Singed stood in front of him and blocked the attacks.

Malphite ran straight for the enemy team when they were closer to his team, but was met with the heavyweight golem. The two titans then attempted to exchange punches but both ducked and weaved accordingly. They then initialised in a stalemate when both of them grabbed their counterpart's fists from striking, thus making both of them not move an inch.

Warwick lunged himself at Nasus and started to bite and slash the Curator's vest and armour but Nasus grabbed the wolf and threw him away. Warwick landed on his feet but still pounced back at Nasus and the two were engaged in a fight of beasts.

Meanwhile, Twisted Fate teleported to Grave's side and threw several cards at the gunman. Graves saw this attack come from a mile away. He always had his sights on where Twisted Fate was looking, and once he saw the gambler disappeared, he had to react to the general area where he last saw fate look at. Graves dashed away with his Quickdraw and fired shots towards Fate, which the gambler easily avoided by teleporting away.

"I'm impressed Fate," Graves said as he shot a couple more bullets, "your team's quite skilled for a bunch of strangers. But do you seriously think you can beat all of us?"

Jinx continued to fire rockets at Singed, but his shield's just so annoying to deal with, so she then used her Super Mega Death Rocket and as the giant rocket flew across the room, Kayle flew back to Singed, sped him up, which allowed him to duck away from the attack. The rocket continued to fly until it hit the entrance that Graves and his team came through, which was the Task Force's only current exit.

"Looks like you're stuck with us," Nasus told the wolf.

"Or how about the other way around?!" Warwick howled as he did tackled Nasus to the ground. With the K9 unit pinned to the floor, Warwick attempted to bite his face, but Nasus used his baton to defend himself.

Graves still had his eyes on Twisted Fate, but through his peripheral vision, he saw Blitz and Malphite in a headlock since neither of them seemed to be letting go. With a smile, he pointed his shotgun at Twisted Fate, but instantly changed targets to Malphite and unleashed his Collateral Damage at the titan. Malphite was hurt badly which gave Blitz enough opportunity to throw an empowered uppercut at the rock giant's jaw and knocked Malphite down to the ground. Seizing the opportunity, Blitz located Warwick who had Nasus pinned down and aimed his Rocket Grab at the wolf. He fired his grab, but mid-flight, it was met with Thresh's hook. The two hooks intertwined and negated Blitz from reaching Warwick. Blitz saw this and used his other arm to target Jinx's blind side.

"Jinx! Behind you!" Thresh yelled as he threw his lantern at Jinx once more. Jinx saw the grab approach her, but the lantern arrived on time and she took the Thresh Express to safety. With Jinx next to Thresh and the chest, she launched rockets at the steam golem. Since the golem didn't have enough time to react, Kayle flew in and used her Intervention and shielded Blitzcrank from the attack. The attack struck the holy shield, but it did not hurt Blitz whatsoever.

Suddenly, Singed appeared behind Warwick and flung him away from Nasus and straight towards Thresh and Jinx. With three champions close together, he used his Mega Adhesive around the trio to slow their movements. Twisted Fate saw this and teleported next to Singed and had the opportunity to hit the Mad Chemist with stun cards, and although it was blocked by the Singed's riot shield, the stun still took effect.

Graves took this as the perfect opening to hit three champions at once. With the three of them under a Mega Adhesive, he threw a smokescreen at them and blinded their vision. He then took aim at where the three enemies were and prepared to use Collateral Damage once more. Suddenly, he saw gold in front of him, then he saw brown, then he was launched across the room, until finally he saw smoke. Once the smoke cleared, he saw that Kayle was above him and Malphite's body crumbled at his feet. It turns out that Malphite saw that his friends were in danger and attempted to use his Unstoppable Force to take Graves down for good, but Kayle was there to provide protection. So as he charged at Graves, which pushed Graves to a wall far away, the Collateral Damage hit Malphite at point-blank range and caused his body to fall to pieces, which were slowly regenerating.

With Nasus back to his feet, he went to his Fury of the Sands form and ran straight for the trio who just recovered from the smoke. He ran with all his speed and was close enough to hit one of them with his Siphoning Strike. But before he landed the attack, Warwick immediately suppressed him with his Infinite Duress, and Jinx threw some Flame Chompers behind Nasus while Thresh got his hook untangled from Blitz's grab and Flayed the hound back to the chompers. With Nasus snared and suppressed, Jinx switched to Pow-Pow and attacked Nasus with a flurry of bullets.

Kayle saw what was happening and sped herself up to help her comrade but to her surprise, Twisted Fate teleported in the air and threw gold, blue and red cards at Kayle. The Judicator did not react fast enough and when the attack connected, she was damaged and engulfed with smoke and she fell to the ground. But before she fell head first, Graves dashed in and caught the angel and absorbed the impact with his body.

Twisted Fate saw that Singed was back to his feet and attempted to go back in and stop him from reaching his team, but suddenly, a giant metal fist grabbed him and Fate was pulled away to meet Blitz's face. Before Fate could cast any skill, Blitz used his Static Field to stop Fate in his tracks with a silence and was about to punch him with his heavy metal fist, but he was met with a strike from behind from Malphite who has recovered from his injuries. Blitzcrank released TF and the silence had worn off and he threw a bunch of cards at Blitz just as Malphite threw some Seismic Shards at the robot. Blitz looked like he was doomed, but he activated his Mana Barrier and it negated the attacks from harming him.

Nasus, who was still being pelted by Jinx's bullets, Withered Warwick to slow down his attacks, grabbed the wolf, and threw him back at the Loose Cannon. Jinx dived away from the oncoming wolf and that gave Nasus enough time to run towards the chest to secure the package. However, Thresh was still protecting the chest, and he used The Box to slow Nasus down. With the Curator's speed reduced, Jinx kept on firing at the riot officer.

Singed saw this happening and he knew that he and Nasus currently had the best opportunity to get the chest and regroup, so he took out a vial which contained a very special concoction and drank it. Singed was suddenly empowered with his Insanity Potion and ran at Thresh and Jinx with extreme speed and with his gas activated. Thresh put up a wall of The Box, and it slowed Singed down, but he still kept running forward and regenerating any lost health. Jinx threw down her Flame Chompers in front of Singed, but to her surprise, the Mad Chemist did something crazy; he jumped over the Chompers and kept running. Jinx fired her Zap at Singed, and although it slowed him down, his shield absorbed the damage.

Thresh and Jinx suddenly noticed that Nasus was also back his feet and was running at them as well! Thresh put up more Boxes and Jinx fired more Zaps, but the two front liners were already inching their way towards the group with a cloud of smoke coming from Singed's flask. It was then where Twisted Fate teleported and threw stun cards at Nasus and Singed, which stopped them momentarily, which gave Malphite enough time to arrive, grab and toss Singed and Nasus away from their group, and with his massive hands, he did one large clap and it dissipated the oncoming gas.

However, while they were distracted, Blitz targeted the chest and launched his grab in an attempt to get the box away from the group of five. He succeeded and the surprised Task Force then turned their attention towards Blitzcrank.

"Package secured!" Blitz shouted, but it was at at that point where his advance conscious awareness told him that he was in a heap of trouble. Seeing that he was far from his team, with five Champions currently running at him, he let out a small and timid "oh no."

Blitz sped himself up with his Overdrive so that he may regroup with his team faster, but Twisted Fate saw this and threw gold cards at the robot. The robot dodged some with his enhanced speed, but he knew he couldn't dodge them forever. Kayle knew this too and sped herself and zoomed towards her ally. Her police sirens rang and she slowed down Malphite, Jinx and Warwick with her Rockoning and casted Intervention on Blitzcrank. The golden shield nullified damage, but it can't stop stuns or snares, so Blitz had to do his very best to avoid cards, and thanks to his robotic reflexes, it was easier to avoid.

As Kayle safely guarded her ally, she suddenly felt something wrap around her waist. She got caught by Thresh's hook and was being pulled by the spectre towards his group. "Come here you annoying police fly," Thresh said as he pulled the Judicator closer and closer. With Kayle's concentration broken, Blitzcrank was no longer protected by her Intervention and Twisted Fate teleported in front of Blitz and stunned him with some gold cards.

Blitz dropped the box and Twisted Fate picked it up and ran back to his group. Him having the box was awkward since it wasn't small enough to fit anywhere around him so he can't teleport as long as he was holding the box. That was when Graves started blasting and firing rounds at the gambler since he knew that Fate can't risk damaging the box with his Destiny teleports. So what Fate did was he threw the box in the air, teleported next to it, threw it again, and repeated until he got back to his team while Graves attempted but missed every shot as TF teleported one by one.

Kayle struggled to free herself from the spectre's clutches, and she even tried to cut the chain with her blade, but Thresh provided a shield across his chain to negate her attacks. Kayle then increased her propulsion and tried to fly away from the spectre. Soon, Thresh was finding it difficult to pull her back and he found himself being pulled away towards Kayle! "Let's go for a ride, spectre," Kayle said with a smile. With one more boost of speed, she pulled herself away from Thresh and even pulled Thresh into the air with her! She flew across the training facility with Thresh still holding onto the chain that's attached to her and she zipped through the air and crashing Thresh to the walls.

Jinx saw this and attempted to shoot Kayle down with her Zaps, but her attempts were unsuccessful as Kayle dodged them with speed and grace. Thresh eventually untangled his hook, which forced him to fall to the ground. As Thresh slowly recovered from his dizzying air experience, he saw Singed and Nasus run up to him with the intent to pin the warden into submission. Thresh threw his lantern out, which made his pursuers question why would he bring anyone into this fight, but to their surprise, the lantern landed next to Malphite and instead of being pulled into the fight, the giant pulled Thresh out of it.

The two teams regrouped once more at opposite sides, and both groups were exhausted from the battle, and it was definitely a miracle that nobody's severely hurt. The chest was still with the Task Force and Graves just had about enough. "Fate..." Graves panted, "all of you... you're giving us a run for our money."

"Likewise," Twisted Fate replied as he wiped some sweat off his face. He was beginning to be drained from all of the teleporting and fighting, and he knew that the others were tired as well. He saw Kayle healing their group's wounds with her Divine Blessing and he knew that he and his allies can't hold up much longer. Suddenly, he heard something in his earpiece. He turned around to confirm with the others if they heard it and they all nodded back at Fate with a grin. Jinx told Malphite something and the giant slowly nodded. They were almost out of this battle.

On the other side, Graves asked Kayle, "status report."

"Everyone's healed to about eighty-percent of their strength. Nasus was unable to lifesteal since he didn't get a chance to hit anyone, Blitz's mana's slowly being replenished after he used his Mana Barrier, Singed's Insanity Potion wore off and your wounds and mine are fine."

"Roger, get ready, 'cause we might need to do what we did that one time at Noxus," Graves said.

"I shall repeat what I said to you that day," Kayle replied, "as long as my strength is used in the name of justice, I shall use every ounce of it."

"That's what I wanted to hear," Graves smiled. "Nasus, Singed, up front. Blitz, behind me. Kayle, above us. Valkyrie's a go," Graves commanded. Nasus and Singed positioned to be the frontline helping them defend Graves while Blitzcrank was behind him to hopefully defend or silence anyone who gets too close, and Kayle was above them to cast her Intervention if needed and to slow or shred the enemy team of their resistances.

In an instant, Nasus and Singed sprinted towards the enemy group with Graves, Blitz and Kayle slightly behind them. Jinx fired rockets, but Singed and Nasus took the hits for the team. Twisted Fate threw an entire deck of cards at the frontline filled with magic of his red, gold, and blue cards. However, Graves blasted a special round of his new "End of the Line" skill and the round ignited and blew up all of the cards, thus the frontline still kept going. Thresh then placed multiple walls of The Box in front of them, and that was when Singed drank his Insanity Potion once more so that not only will he break the walls for his team, he wouldn't be as slow as he should have been with Kayle also speeding him up. Finally, Jinx prepped her Super Mega Death Rocket and fired straight at the enemy squad, while Malphite used his Unstoppable Force.

"Now Kayle!" Graves shouted.

Kayle casted her Intervention on the entire team which negated the attack, which would have been devastating. Although they were knocked back a bit, Nasus and Singed grabbed one of Malphite's arms each and tossed him behind their group. With the giant out of the way, Graves aimed for Thresh and started shooting at the spectre. Thresh put up his shield but slowly backed away from the chest because he knew that if he stayed, or if all of them stayed, it would be trouble.

"Retreat!" Thresh yelled. He knew that if he went down while Malphite was too far away to strike or protect the team, they would be wiped out. So the Task Force retreated by running away from the charging Riot Squad, and although Warwick and Jinx tried to bring the box with them, Graves made sure that they won't by shooting at them. In fact, Blitz launched both of his arms to try to grab Warwick and Jinx, but the two immediately ran away after Graves fired his shots. With the Task Force retreating, the Riot Squad slowed down to secure the box.

"Package has been secured," Graves said as he picked up the box. The other members of the Riot Squad took up their positions and aimed their sights onto their enemies while making sure that Graves was safely protected at the center.

"Alright Graves, you won. You have it, so let us go," Twisted Fate said as he attempted to negotiate.

"Shut up Fate," Graves yelled, "you've asked us several times already just to let you go, and what's in it for us if we let your asses go?"

Twisted Fate grinned, "you all wouldn't have to go to the hospital."

Graves suddenly felt his heart pause for an instant. Why the hell was Fate so confident? And why did he suddenly become so sure that he'd win? That's when he concluded that the reason for Twisted Fate's change in confidence was that now... the Riot Squad had the box.

"GET DOWN!" Graves shouted as he attempted to throw the chest away, but it was too late.

"NOW ORI!" Twisted Fate shouted to his earpiece.

In an instant, the chest which used to contain Heimerdinger's prized generator unleashed a powerful shockwave that pulled the Riot Squad to its center. As the box was destroyed, it revealed that it contained several Flame Chompers and one slightly damaged Orianna Ball. As the surprised Riot Squad was pulled by the Command: Shockwave, Warwick instantly used his Infinite Duress to suppress Kayle from using her Intervention. Once the Flame Chompers activated, Thresh threw his hook and caught Nasus's baton and disarmed the Curator. Twisted Fate empowered Fishbones with his magic and then teleported to Malphite's side. Jinx shot her Golden Super Mega Death Rocket at the Riot Squad as Thresh threw his lantern to get Warwick out of the blast zone.

Graves, still dizzy from the shockwave, saw the rocket coming and shouted, "Kayle, KAYLE!, KAYLE!" However, the Judicator had no time to respond. Warwick finished his attack and pounced off Kayle and grabbed the lantern. Thresh pulled the wolf away as the rocket landed revealing a very familiar smile on the ground along with five injured and stunned Champions. However, it wasn't the end yet. Twisted Fate imbued his magic on Malphite's entire body and turned him into the colour of sapphire blue. Graves recovered from the stun and only had a moment to look at Twisted Fate and said, "you son of a-"

Malphite used his Empowered Unstoppable Force and slammed into the entire Riot Squad. There was a huge dust cloud that emerged and when the dust settled, it revealed that all of the Squad members were unconscious.

The Task Force then checked on them and thankfully, they were all still breathing. The Task Force has done it. They beat the Riot Squad and now they are getting closer and closer to escaping the PSR. In fact, they still couldn't believe that they did it. After all, the less than a week old team actually beat a squad with multiple teamwork experience.

"Little miss," Twisted Fate said to break the silence of awe, "remind me to kiss Fishbones later as a token of my thanks."

"Fancy Pants!" Jinx screamed in shock, "FIshbones doesn't swing that way!"

"Well it's either him or you, your choice," Twisted Fate joked with a playful smile.

"I-I can't believe this worked," Warwick stuttered, "I mean, I had many doubts, but still."

"It's all thanks to Jinx and Fishbones," Malphite said as he retrieved the Ball, "and this little guy."

"Alright, Ori? Do you read?" Twisted Fate asked through his earpiece.

Before the fight, they gave Malphite's earpiece to Orianna so that they could keep in contact with her, especially when it was time to use Command: Shockwave. Orianna's voice crackled through the receiver, "yes, I can hear you. Shall I proceed?"

"Yeah, and have you seen any police on the way?" Fate asked.

"Yes, I gave the professor to them earlier, the last I saw was them bringing in some explosives to-"

Before Orianna could finish her sentence, an explosion was heard. The entranceway which Jinx blew up earlier caused debris that prevented the Piltover Police to assist the Riot Squad, so Caitlyn called for some explosives to blow up the debris away. Soon, dozens of policemen with high level of hex-tech weaponry arrived on scene with their sights aimed at the Task Force.

Caitlyn emerged from the entrance and said, "hands in the air! All of you!"

All members of the Task Force held their hands in the air except for Jinx, who just crossed her arms and pouted.

"Drop your weapons! You are all under arrest! Make any sudden movements and we will open fire!" Caitlyn yelled.

"Any time now Orianna," Thresh said through his earpiece.

"Now get on your knees and place your hands behind you-"

Caitlyn was interrupted by a sudden rumbling of the earth that shook the entire room, and the tremors were so strong that some officers fell down. Moments later, out emerged a giant purple drilling machine of some sorts from the facility's floor between the police and the Task Force. As the new vehicle stopped, it slowly transformed and grew arms and legs and stood tall above the group.

Mecha Malphite arrived on the scene and had its arms up to defend the Riot Squad. From the back cockpit out emerged Orianna motioning her new comrades to get in the robot.

"Open fire!" Caitlyn ordered. Almost at once, extremely high levels of explosive power attacked the giant robot, nearly breaking it's cybernetic "Granite Shield" passive. Warwick went up first, then Malphite shrunk down and hopped into Twisted Fate's pocket as he teleported to the entrance of the cockpit. Thresh was up next, and Jinx followed closely behind.

Once all of the members entered Mecha Malphite, Orianna pressed a button and transformed into vehicle mode. Mecha Malphite went into the earlier hole it came in and continued to drill out and away from the PSR leaving a very pissed off Caitlyn staring at the chaos that consumed the testing facility.

Inside the cockpit, Jinx was pinching Twisted Fate's ear. Well, she didn't just pinch it. She also twisted it, pulled it, attempted to shoot it, and all kinds of stuff. "HOW DARE YOU TOY WITH FISHBONE'S EMOTIONS LIKE THAT! Never ever take the feelings of a weapon for granted. You got that Fancy Pants?!"

In the midst of crying and bawling, Twisted Fate managed to nod. Jinx then let go of his ear and went to Orianna. "Soooooooooooo, how are you doing Clock Girl?"

"I am well," Orianna replied as she continued to pilot Mecha Malphite, "I see that your plan has gone well."

"Yeah, Fishbones's plans always go well?" Jinx said.

"But you are Fishbones," Orianna objected.

"Say what now?" Jinx asked with a puzzled look.

Warwick cut in, "just agree that Fishbones is a different person from Jinx. It's easier that way."

Orianna slowly nodded, but she didn't necessarily believed that it was the best solution, but she chose to move on, "I am glad that I could have provided assistance."

"Yeah," Thresh commented, "if we hadn't used the Ball to surprise Kayle and the others, who knows what would have happened? Damn Judicator and her divine intervention."

"Agreed," Orianna said, "and it was a good thing that you know of Mecha Malphite's existence in Professor Heimerdinger's storage room for your escape plan."

"All according to plan!" Jinx said proudly, "now, we have to find our way to the Piltover Clock Tower then we have to ditch the robot."

"Why the Clock Tower?" Orianna asked.

"I have a hideout there," Jinx replied with a smile, "ooooooh, you're all going to love it! SLUMBER PARTY TIME!"

~Piltover City- Outer Ring~

Caitlyn was outside assisting the paramedics on bringing out the Riot Squad to the ambulance. They were all in pretty bad shape, but she knows that Shen's hospital can solve all kinds of problems. Still, there were a lot of questions that still needed to be answered. Why were there five pairs of Orianna models and Balls? What was Orianna even doing with Heimerdinger? Unfortunately, not a lot can be answered since the security footage is missing.

"Oh, heavens no," Heimerdinger said. He just woke up after a long slumber and one moment, he was watching a spectacular fire dance, and the next minute, he wakes up knowing that his generator's been taken and parts of his lab were destroyed.

"How are you feeling professor?" Caitlyn asked.

"I feel like I am incapable of doing anything," Heim complained, "I am both infuriated and devastated at the same time! Oh, how can we solve this conundrum?"

"It's going to be alright professor," Caitlyn did her best to comfort the yordle, "we'll help get the generator back."

The professor sighed, "I guess it's alright. After all, I built it, so I can build another one. But this time, in secret."

"That's the spirit professor," Caitlyn cheered, "back to the old blueprints."

"Oh no, we need something more than blueprints to make that generator my dear," the professor said, "we need the Infinity Gear."

"I beg your pardon?" Caitlyn wasn't understanding what he was saying.

"Oh, by the way, have you seen Orianna? I'll need her to assist me in remaking the generator," the professor asked.

Caitlyn looked down at the floor, "Orianna... was seen with the culprits as they escaped. It is unclear whether she's their accomplice or if they kidnapped her since we can't find any surveillance footage since all files are missing."

When Caitlyn finished, she saw the professor's pale and empty expression, and she dared asked what was wrong.

"Oh no... oh no no no..." the professor said with a saddened tone of voice, "the Infinity Gear..."

"Why? What's wrong professor? What's with the Infinity Gear?" Caitlyn asked.

"Without the Infinity Gear, we can't make a new generator," Heimerdinger said.

"So what does the generator have to do with Orianna?"

"The Infinity Gear... was Corin Revek's greatest invention. The Infinity Gear... it's- it's a part of her. It's her core," the professor stammered.

That was bad news for Caitlyn. If Jinx knew about this... who knows what could happen. And at this rate, if anyone knew of the possibilities one could utilise if they had this Infinity Gear, there would be consequences.

"SHUT YER TRAP AND LET ME SMOKE!" a voice yelled.

"I'll go get that professor," Caitlyn said as she patted the yordle's back, "cheer up okay?"

"I-I'll try sheriff," Heimerdinger replied.

Caitlyn walked over to where she heard the voice come from and she found Graves arguing with a nurse to let him smoke a cigar.

"How bad is he?" Cailtyn asked.

"Broken ribs, torn ligaments, he's got multiple bruises, possible loss of memory-" the nurse wanted to continue but Graves grabbed a cigar and shouted, "BUT MY LUNGS STILL WORK OKAY?!"

"Give it a few years," Caitlyn murmured.

"What did you say?" Graves asked Caitlyn with a dagger look.

"I said nothing," Caitlyn replied, "go ahead."

Graves grunted and lit his cigar and enjoyed the nicotine. For fun, he puffed a smoke cloud towards the Sheriff's face, and Caitlyn just brushed the smoke away.

"Ma'am," officer Rogan said as he appeared with a clipboard, "we've got the reports of the escape and the hostages."

"Alright, give me the details," Caitlyn requested.

"Okay, so as you've said, they acquired the Mecha Malphite through Orianna since all of them were in front of you so there's no way they could have remotely activated it, they've escaped through a hole and continued to dig away from the PSR," Rogan took a quick breath of air and continued, "the professor said that we can track it down, so we should be getting those results soon."

"Bah, can't believe you let them get away," Graves ranted.

Caitlyn ignored Graves, "alright, good work. What about the hostages?"

"Yes Ma'am," Rogan continued, "twenty five hostages were rescued and sent to their homes."

Caitlyn's mouth dropped; Grave's jaw dropped, which caused his cigar to fall to the ground.

"Did you say twenty five?" Caitlyn asked.

"Y-yes Ma'am, it's right here in the-"

"Give me that!" Graves said as he snatched the clipboard away from the officer. He counted and recounted, and the results didn't change. "Twenty five. But how can this be?"

"Earlier," Caitlyn recalled, "Jinx said that there were twenty five in total. Twenty four in the panic room, and one with her."

"But the one with Jinx was Orianna when we met them," Graves added.

"And Orianna also left with the group in Mecha Malphite when we last saw them," Caitlyn said.

"So..." both champions said in union, "who's the extra one?"

~Piltover City- Jinx's Hideout~

When Jinx told Orianna to make her way to the Piltover Clock Tower, she meant the older one. Piltover originally had one tower but due to old age and the scarcity of antique analog clock experts, the hands have stopped moving, and it has since been more of an old tourist attraction than an actual working monument. The city then decided to create a newer and taller tower using hex-tech and modern era magic, which is now one of the more famous marvels of the city center. After the Task Force dug their way to the bottom of the old Piltover Clock Tower, Malphite absorbed some earth to regain his size and Orianna programmed Mecha Malphite to make one round around the underground areas of Piltover before stopping next to the PSR. The group of six entered the fire escape of the old clock tower and entered an old cage-shaft elevator. Jinx pressed floor seven once and floor three twice, then the old elevator moved up.

"The hell? Which floor are we going to?" Warwick asked.

"To the thirteenth floor!" Jinx said.

"But the elevator doesn't even have a thirteenth button," Warwick snarled; he clearly didn't like to be made a fool of.

"Seven plus three plus three is thirteen. Durr," Jinx said nonchalantly.

"In previous eras, it was common superstition to believe that the number thirteen was considered to be a number of bad fortune," Orianna stated, "therefore structures like elevators avoided the use of that number. I'm positive that there shouldn't be an actual thirteenth floor here."

The elevator passed the eighth floor.

"Are you suuuuuuuure?" Jinx asked.

The elevator passed the tenth floor.

"Yes," Orianna nodded.

The elevator passed the twelfth floor and it suddenly decreased its acceleration.

"Hm, I must admit, my basis of my conclusion was on the information of historical superstition," Orianna admitted, "I should have made a final conclusion had I known the schematics of the old tower."

The elevator stopped in front of a brick wall and Jinx took one step forward. The other members saw Jinx phase through the wall and were dumbstruck. Jinx came back through the wall and said, "come on!" She grabbed Orianna's hand and dragged her through the wall.

"Impressive," Orianna's voice could be heard through the wall, "it's a hologram."

The other four Champions stepped through the hologram and saw that Jinx and Orianna were standing next to an old wooden door.

"Welcome to my crib!" Jinx said with a wide smile across her face. She then opened the door and the Task Force was met with a blinding white light.

Once the group had regained their sight, they observed that Jinx's hideout was filled with fluffy pillows and plush toys as far as the eyes could see. The walls had pink wall paper and had pinned paper of coloured artwork made by Jinx herself. There were plushies of a variety of animals and even versions of some champions as well!

"Well," Twisted Fate finally opened his mouth to say something, "this was not what I had in mind."

Jinx jumped from the doorway and into a pool of fluffy plush toys and said, "aaaah, nothing like going back home after a good day's mayhem."

"I am almost afraid that I'd destroy these things," Malphite said as his towering figure could easily squash the small toys.

"Harm them and I'll unfriend you!" Jinx's threatened.

Malphite took a step out of the door and after a small amount of rumbling, the door opened with Malphite reducing his size to about a meter in height.

"Uh, Jinx," Thresh asked, "there is a floor here right? Like an actual floor holding up the stuffed animals right?"

"Duh Match Stick," Jinx replied, "it's probably just about two feet deep here."

"Wait, so you're in a pit of plushies?" Twisted Fate asked in disbelief.

"Pretty much!" Jinx said with glee. She then pulled out Fishbones and began to move its jaw, "there's a room on your right which is more sophisticated than this one. We can talk over there. You can walk around the perimeter of the plush pit to get there."

"Wow Fishbones! You said a five syllable word!" Jinx sounded very amazed, "you have a good vocabulary mister."

"We shall proceed to the designated room," Orianna stated.

Once the five champions slowly inched their way across stuffed toys of dolphins and rhinos, they were met with another wooden door. They opened the door and entered a rather dark room with only a computer screen to light the area. As they closed the door, Thresh held out his lantern and as it floated in the air, it emitted a strong green glow. As the green light illuminated the room, it revealed that the room was more of a workshop. The workshop had a table, a workbench, a couple of rolling chairs, hardware tools, and numerous small gadgets and gizmos.

The door opened once more, and out stood a figure with a horn on its head. Some members of the group stood ready while others, namely Orianna, was rather skeptic of the approaching figure. The figure motioned towards the left and a small click was heard.

The lights turned on and the figure they saw was Jinx... in a unicorn onesie.

Aside from seeing the adolescent yawn in her apparent sleeping wear, the light revealed that the walls had graffiti all around the room, which were a mix of dreadful colours of black and red along with neon green and pink for a brighter look. The graffiti was rather... loud; as if the artist had voices screaming in his head that wanted to express themselves.

"I... don't know which room is scarier," Warwick whispered.

Jinx yawned once more in her white onesie and softly said, "can we sleep now? It's way past my curfew."

"Not quite," Thresh commented, "there's still a matter to discuss." The spectre then glared at Twisted Fate, but the gambler just averted his eyes.

"Is it about the thing?" Malphite asked. His small stature didn't deliver the same deep and booming voice, and it clearly did not deliver the same aura he would normally emit if he was his usual size.

"Yes, it's about the generator, or rather specifically, the one scent that was left at the scene," Thresh said. The spectre took a few steps forward and placed his lantern on the table while he himself faced away from everyone. "There was a single scent that lingered in that room."

"Impossible," Warwick debated, "my nose is sensitive enough to even sniff out if a crumb was being dragged by an ant. There were no scents in that room."

"Ever heard of Nightbloom, Warwick?" Thresh continued without turning back.

"Nightbloom," Orianna stated as she recalled where she has heard that name, "founded approximately thirty-seven years ago by survivors who have survived the Shadow Isles. It's is a type of flora native to the islands since it needs longer periods of moonlight to bloom, thus its name. The species was regarded as the hope of the poor and lost who wounded up on the island, and has sparked the fascination of many-"

Jinx bobbed her head slowly as she slowly dozed in and out of consciousness. Twisted Fate snapped his fingers a couple of times to wake her up and Jinx managed to open one eye.

"Come on little miss," TF comforted her, "just a little longer."

"I like this bedtime story," Jinx mumbled.

"However," Orianna continued, "the botanists have concluded that the flora has no scent, but it does have a rather unique property..."

"Correct," Thresh replied as he turned to face the gambler, "although the flower has no scent for the living, it can negate other scents. This is because it replaces the scents with its own."

"Huh?" Warwick questioned, "replaces? With it's own? Thought you said it has no scent."

"The flower has no scent for the living," Thresh repeated once more with emphasis on the last word as if he wanted to be very clear as to his intent. "So, if someone actually knows of the scent..."

One by one, heads were slowly turning towards Twisted Fate. Even Jinx had both her eyes opened as she turned to her comrade.

"The flower... produces a light and soothing scent," Twisted Fate continued as he turned to face away from the crowd.

"That comforts the spirits and the living dead," Thresh stressed, "so if you wouldn't mind, Fate, I suggest you enlighten us from this uncertainty here before we proceed to do anything further."

Silence enveloped the room to the point where only the sound of breathing and the ticks of Orianna's gears were heard. Everyone gazed upon their ally and thought how much or how little they truly know of one another. If what Thresh said was true, then Twisted Fate, their living and breathing comrade, is actually...

"Heh," Fate chuckled, "I thought that I was pretty good at keeping secrets, especially my own." The gambler then looked back at the group, brought out a deck of cards and started shuffling. "Looks like a slip of the tongue was my downfall, but this ain't a big deal."

"Not a big deal?" Warwick begged to differ, "This IS a big deal! Are you saying that you're... dead?"

"That's both true and false, my furry friend," Twisted Fate replied.

"Better explain. Now," Malphite grunted. If there was one thing that the giant hated aside from fighting was lying because lying was simply fighting with a sharper blade.

Twisted Fate sighed, "looks like I have no choice." The gambler then stopped shuffling his hand and brought out a single card: The Fool. "You're looking at the biggest fool in Runeterra, or at least the slyest. So prepare yourselves for a rather short story on how this fool escaped death by dying." He then threw the card at the light switch and the room returned to darkness with only Thresh and his lantern illuminating the room with a green glow.

The Cardmaster then began to tell his story, "Underworld Twisted Fate is not just a skin that I put on because it has a little origin that I tend to keep to myself... and to one other."

"Another?" Thresh inquired.

"It's because of a lady friend of yours, Thresh," Twisted Fate replied with the slightest hint of anger.

"Hmph, which one?" Thresh crossed his arms because he was probably referring to one of the residents of the Shadow Isles, and Thresh himself doesn't want to discuss his relationships with them freely.

"The Spirit of Vengeance, Kalista," Fate answered, "if I am not mistaken, she's the one who punishes those who have committed acts of betrayal?

Thresh nodded. He wasn't in the mood to discuss his superior's acts and methods on how she dealt with things. However, it did make sense that Kalista would have gone after Fate. After all...

"Well, I ratted out on my old pal Malcolm Graves in the past," TF continued, "and months later, I was visited by Kalista. She said that my time had come to face my sins, and face judgement by her hands. Naturally, I tried to stop her, card tricks and all, but you can't stop a determined spirit from seeking vengeance." The gambler drew breath as he recalled more on those days where he was hunted down by a spirit with a spear. "Seeing that I can't defeat her, I chose to run away, but she always found me. If I see her, I teleport away, but unfortunately, even if I transport myself to another town, she was always there. I was being hunted, but I was a rather slippery prey to catch. Days go by, then weeks, then months, and it came to a point where I was concerned with my family's life. So... I do what I do best: I make her a deal."

"And what deal would that be?" Orianna asked. She too was curious to the background of her new ally since TF's Champion background in her records were mostly vague and incomplete.

"One night, as I saw her approach me with spear in hand, I told her that I wanted to make a deal," Fate continued, "she laughed saying that I have nothing to offer, but I disagreed. I argued that if she tirelessly hunts me down despite me being able to teleport away, she wouldn't be able to hunt the others who were guilty of many crimes. She thought about it and concluded that I had a small, but valid point. So I said, 'I will willingly give myself up to you on my thirty-third birthday if you promise to let me live until then so that I can provide for my family.' Kalista then meditated on my proposal and I added that I would turn thirty-three the year after."

"Wooooooooooooooow," Jinx groggily voiced out. She was still tired and she honestly tried her best to pay attention, but she was just lacking enough energy to make snarky remarks.

"Kalista would never agree to that," Thresh added, "she would only find that attempt to be humorous and she would strike you down right there and then."

"Close," Twisted Fate applauded, "but just like Graves on the Rift, but no cigar. Kalista drew her spear and I readied myself to teleport away and start the entire charade all over again. However, she threw her spear at my feet and she said, 'you amuse us, and we will accept this deal. You are an annoying rat that would take some time to catch, but to see a rat walk into a trap to die on its own free will, it shall be very entertaining. Now grab the Black Spear and swear your soul to me.'"

"Intense," Malphite muttered.

"So I grabbed the spear," Fate continued, "and said, 'I swear on my soul that I will willingly surrender myself to you when I turn thirty-three,' and what came next was a process I believe all of you are rather familiar of? I felt my soul leave my body and into the spear. I was sent to the Underworld and all of the spirits and demons danced as I was mocked in front of them. There I saw myself as a member of the Underworld, who would make deals with the devil and gamble all the time because there's nothing better than seeing beings who have nothing bet on anything. However, in an instant, I was dragged with a mighty force from the soil of the dead all the way back to my body in the living world. I gasped and gasped as I took in the breath of life I once did and looked up to see Kalista smiling. She took the black spear from the ground and bid her farewell with a bow. She then walked away into a dark mass of fog and disappeared."

The others stayed silent. There was a little too much to take in all at once.

The gambler then proceeded with his story, "as I rose from the ground, I had one thing hidden from her. I had an ace in the hole, and that ace made me smile as I drew enough strength to stand. The next day, I applied to become a Champion in the League of Legends. I signed the contract and became the immortal that you see right now."

"Damn," Warwick growled.

"So despite a year going by and years more, Kalista never showed up because I'm still thirty-two," Fate said. He then bowed concluding, "and that is how I dealt with death by dying."

Nobody moved and nobody spoke, except for Jinx who already fell to sleep on her chair. For one, they were impressed on how the gambler cheated death, but at the same time, they knew that if they failed their current mission on getting that generator, Rokt would terminate his contract, which would make a very, very pissed off Kalista appear in front of Twisted Fate.

"You have made a fool of Kalista," Thresh said, "and that brings many consequences."

"I know, and when the time comes, I'll just accept my fate. Which is also why I need to make sure that my family is well off by then so that even without me, they will be fine," TF said. He said it with a very warm heart, not just as a person, but as a loving member of his family. "I'll probably say a little sorry before she takes my soul. So like I said, s'no big deal."

"That was... a rather interesting story," Orianna said as she added this new account into her memory, "so, since we have identified as to how Twisted Fate knows of the flower, the question still remains as to why the flower's scent was in the room in the first place?"

"I have already narrowed it down to one suspect," Thresh added, "this is because I can picture one individual who can easily access the Shadow Isles, survive, and use the flower's unique abilities for her own motives." Thresh then turned to Twisted Fate, "so what are you going to do Twisted Fate?"

The gambler made an annoyed face and groaned, "I'm going to do what all men dread." Twisted Fate then brought out his new cellphone and said, "I'm gonna call my ex."

* * *

**Yaaaay! More stuff to wonder about! I know that some of these aren't cannon, but I've always questioned some concepts of their skins (which is why I deduced that Malphite can become any surface he can touch and that Thresh can change his glow), but the one with TF might be a bit of a stretch. If it bothers anyone, I can try to repair it.**

**I have to ask though, am I capturing the essences of the Champs? I try to make Jinx the funny psycho who's still young and immature. Fate's more of a man of mystery with many tricks under his sleeve. I think I made Thresh ghoul-ish but has a soul nonetheless, who chooses to help rather than slay. Finally, I gave Warwick a short temper and an inner beast and left Malphite being a giant with a few, yet sturdy words. Then again, I am the author, so I guess what I do with them is on how I see fit, but it's just a thought I had for a while.**

**Next chapter will be different! I'll be doing a take on Orianna's thoughts!**

**And now the review corner!**

**Kerbal: Yep! When I was writing that scene I wanted to include that soundtrack! Sorry if it was a rush XP. I used prioritise sending these out within reasonable time over the quality of the flow of the story. I think I've shrugged that off now. Thank you for being a regular supporter here in the review section! And I can always rely on you and Vievin to always be giving feedback! So a pat on your back, good sir! May the cooldowns be always on your side.**

***kojh0124: Thank you for appreciating the story! Actually, it's thanks to you that a little of a hidden mystery is now uncovered. I shall repeat what I've said to you before: what I wrote is correct. I am not changing that unless I see fit. Don't worry, you are very fun at parties! You're great! :D**

**Vievin: And here's the other regular reviewer! How are ya? Thanks for liking the previous chapter! I appreciate your comment, but I must be truthful in that I'm not that good at writing fights yet. Don't worry about this ending. All good stories have to come to an end *stares at One Piece*. Stunrocket's will probably more present since that ability has been shown, but I'll probably nerf it. I don't know if you still ship TF and Jinx, but I don't explicitly ship people. (But I will keep the "little miss") Sleep well! And may you have a nice day!**

**tH1s: Thanks for giving that review! I feel like the mix gives the story a little bit more of a kick and a decent or average plot. I hope to hear from you in the future!**

**Okay, now that there are three guests, I'll just have to label you guys.**

**Guest A: Thanks for giving more feedback! See? Even others like you have been dropping reviews/comments! Thank you! You know what else is awesome! You are! I thank that you find some chapters funny because if I can't write a good chapter, I can at least have good laughs! I'll do my best to keep up with the good work! Hope to see you again!**

**Guest B: No no, thank you for supporting it! Yep! I try to include humour into the story because I don't want things to be too intense. Although I'm concerned if I placed a badly timed joke when things are heating up. That would be awkward. Thanks! I try my best to make my story close to cannon, but I'll add a spin or two. Like Thresh and TF! I hope to see you again! And hopefully, I can differentiate you amongst your brothers!**

**Guest C: Thanks for liking the story! I think that the only complete carbon copy of Suicide Squad that I used was an excuse to pull five champions together. I mean, by this chapter, I've removed the collars and all, so pretty much they're doing this on their own free will for a chance of a lifetime coming from a mysterious, yet powerful figure. So yeah! Thanks to much for your review and may you have a great day!**


	9. Orianna Log 1

**Author's Note:**

**Hey everyone! Guess who's back? :D**

**Now I've spent so much time on the past eight chapters to make it all hyped up and action filled, so I'm going to take a break and relax a bit. I've decided that the fanfic would be divided into arcs in a sense so that I could fit in other ideas and plans for character development and such. So from Chapters 1 to 8, that's one arc. This one is the start of a new arc, which will be catered to Orianna. I wanted to try using first person narratives so this will have to be my attempt to do so.**

**Hope you all will still enjoy! It's a bit slow, but I only plan this arc to be short (maybe 5 chapters?)**

**So here y'all go!**

* * *

**Recollection Log**

Orianna Revek.

Daughter of Corin Revek.

Brunette.

Student.

Dancer.

105 pounds.

Roughly 49.8952 kilograms.

Young.

Beautiful.

Talented.

Aspired to become a Champion.

Deceased.

* * *

My name is Orianna.

My Champion title is "The Lady of Clockwork."

I am a machine.

My creator is Sir Corin Revek, father of the late Orianna Revek.

He named me after his daughter to take her place in the League of Legends.

He armed me with weapons in order to fight and defend.

He gave me the Ball to help me fight.

He helped create my cognitive artificial intelligence.

He assisted me in becoming independent.

He programmed me to call him "Father."

So I called him "Father."

* * *

~Current Location: Old Piltover Clocktower~

Despite everything that has happened to me, I appear to be fine.

I have nearly lost the Ball. I have been stripped off my arms only to have them repaired later on. My counterparts have been destroyed. And finally, I have failed an objective and my latest one is to question the one concept no human or machine should dare to question: "what is my purpose in life?"

However, there is something positive that came out of this: I have found allies apart from the Ball.

I am surrounded with beings who come from different points of Runeterra and beyond. Here in this dark room, with only the glow of the Chain Warden to light the way, I observe my allies and aim to assist them in their endeavour.

From the information that I have gathered by conversing with them, it would appear that these five have been tasked to destroy Sir Heimerdinger's generator by a Summoner named Rokt the Sixth. If they did not obey, their Summoner Contract would be terminated and their mortality would be returned; the mysterious Summoner would then eliminate them.

However, should they succeed, they would be rewarded greatly with special items unique to their own desires.

Family. Wealth. Peace. Sustainability. Home.

It makes me question: _what do I desire?_

"Come on, come on, pick up," Twisted Fate said. I saw him walking back and forth while constantly calling someone through his cell phone. He mentioned before that he had to call his ex, which most likely meant that he was going to call his previous lover.

"Looks like she's ignoring you _again_, dear comrade," Thresh snarked. His green, eerie and menacing exterior hid a rather humorous side of the warden.

As the two bickered on the side, I can hear Jinx's snoring getting louder and louder. The adolescent in the unicorn outfit remained on the chair as her head nodded to and fro. Who could have imagined that one of the most wanted menaces of Piltover acted so much like a child.

I decided to pick her up and move her into the other, more pleasant room. As I approached the sleeping child, I stopped for a moment and wondered why did I suddenly decide to bring her to the other room. Almost instantly, I thought about the act in a logical manner. If she remained like that, she could develop back problems due to her posture, or she could suddenly wake up due to all the noise in the room.

_Yes_. I told myself. _That was the reason why_.

I lifted the Loose Cannon in my metal arms and brought her out of the dark and cold room and into the brighter and more comfortable one filled with a multitude of objects that she could use as pillows.

As I laid her down onto some soft dolls and plush toys in the pit, I heard her murmur something in her sleep.

"Haw... Mo..." Jinx uttered softly before she slowly grabbed some toys around her to keep her company.

_Haw Mo? What on earth?_

I ignored the young girl's comment. There was not enough of a statement to analyse its roots. There was so little information on Jinx I had in my own databanks, so as I spend time with the group, I may learn more about her. Especially her relationship between her and her weapons.

_Actually, while she is asleep.._.

I glanced around the area and found Jinx's weapons, Pow-Pow and Fishbones, lying next to a stuffed elephant and panda. I approached the inanimate objects and scanned them with my optics, but the results showed no signs out of the ordinary; they were just weapons and nothing more.

_I cannot believe that I would fall for such an illogical assumption._

I was about to turn and leave, but a small object appeared to be inside Fishbone's mouth. I opened the rocket launcher's jaw only to find a faint "X" symbol on its tongue. Curious, I then checked if Pow-Pow had any such symbols on it. There was nothing on the weapon itself but on the tattered strap was an "I" and an "X" written in a faint, yet cursive writing.

"Nyarghm... Fishbones..."

Startled, I turned around to see Jinx sleep talking and she appeared to be reaching out for something.

"Fish...bonezzz...zzz"

I picked up the rocket launcher and placed it right next to Jinx. She immediately wrapped her arms around the shark weapon and slowly drifted back to sleep.

_Interesting... She calls out to Fishbones, but forgets about Pow-Pow..._

I decided that I've been here for too long and proceeded to get out of the plush pit. I returned to the dark workshop and at that moment, Twisted Fate appeared in a familiar mist. He put down his phone in frustration and revealed a phone charger in his other hand.

"Were you gone?" I asked.

"Yeah, left a bit 'cause my phone's running out of juice," Twisted Fate replied, "had to, uh, _borrow_ a charger from a store."

There was no need to hide his act. He was already a wanted criminal, so adding theft to his many charges wouldn't really have mattered. Given today's act of terror, each and every one of the group would be sentenced for at least two or maybe three life sentences.

"Have you made contact yet?" I pressed on.

The gambler sighed, "as always. I try to apologise to her and she on purposely doesn't respond because she knows that I deserve the silent treatment."

"Try tomorrow?" Malphite suggested. His current physique didn't make him as threatening as he usually is. In fact, I myself didn't know of his ability to shrink and grow as he discards and absorbs any solid object. And this place he comes from called the Monolith? More information about it would be beneficial.

"It's already tomorrow," Warwick said with a yawn, "we've spent the entire night and dawn for our escapade and we're all exhausted now." The Bloodhunter was described to be a ruthless cold-hearted killer, and the files said that his earlier profession was delivering human samples to certain wanted scientists- either dead or alive. It's rather unusual that he would show this much level of patience.

Twisted Fate rubbed his eyes and said, "yeah, I'll get some shut eye for now and then I'll try again later."

Malphite, Twisted Fate, and Warwick proceeded to exit the workshop, while Thresh and I remained. I would assume that they preferred the other room than this one.

"Will you not sleep, dear warden?" I asked while tuning my voice to present the emotion of concern.

The warden gave a sinister chuckle, "I'm one of the living dead; I have no need of sleep."

"Understood. Updating data," I replied.

"Pardon?" Thresh asked.

"Whenever I am corrected, I update my databanks so that I may not repeat the same mistakes again,"

"You don't have to say it out loud," Thresh replied.

"Understood," after I spoke, I proceeded to sit on the workbench where I last placed the Ball on so that I may make repairs. Apparently, Jinx had various tools at her disposal, which probably complements her advance knowledge in engineering and hex-technology.

"Warden, do you think Jinx would allow me to use her tools to repair the Ball?"

Thresh looked like he didn't care, "why don't you ask her for permission?"

"Affirmative," I stood up, but before I could do anymore, Thresh grabbed my shoulders and forced me back to my seat.

"Are you crazy? Why would you do that?" Thresh questioned. His green aura grew brighter than before.

"Because you said to ask her," I did not know what I did wrong. After all, it would be rude to use her tools without her consent.

Thresh sighed, "can you understand sarcasm?"

"I am familiar with the concept, but I have not been exposed to such notions since the people I usually speak with are professors and scientists; they treat their words seriously and say what they mean."

Thresh placed his hand over his face and groaned.

"Is that what people call, 'facepalming'? I've always known that that's how it's supposed to look like."

"How can you be so knowledgable and yet so ignorant at the same time?" Thresh asked in annoyance.

"Well, I have downloaded multiple gigabytes of data into my-"

The warden rested his hand on my shoulder once more to silence me. "That... was a rhetorical question."

"Very well," I replied.

Thresh then sat down next to the workbench with a sigh of relief. "Use them if you wish. I don't think Jinx will get mad."

I sat down and used some of the tools to repair the Ball. During our fight, the Ball has suffered many blows and its internal wiring has been affected and damaged. In addition, its voice box was damaged, so I can't hear much of anything from the Ball.

As I attempted to repair the Ball, I also recollected some of my memory data in order to find a solution or even an idea as to what my purpose can be.

I am a machine. My metallic exterior is but one of many proofs of this fact. The nature of machines is that we are temporary because technology will continue to evolve. The new will take over the old. This is what I've observed first hand when my creator was in the middle of sketching his designs for the Ball. I remembered that it was a Saturday afternoon long ago. He was using a pencil to plan out the schematics of the Ball who would be my ally in the many days to come. Hours and hours he sat on his desk thinking about what he could make to be my protector.

I remembered asking him something like, "Father, why are you doing this?"

The sudden question startled him and caused him to break his pencil tip. He then brought out a tiny sharpener and he spoke to me as he sharpened his pencil. "I can't always be there to protect you my child, so I would feel better knowing that someone or something's always protecting you."

I did not pursue to ask him anymore questions, but I observed what he was doing. Every idea he had, every equation he thought of, he wrote them down on paper and blueprints. His pencil would always shrink and yet he would continue to sharpen it until there was nothing left, and when he finished one pencil, he would bring out another.

I concluded that the pencil reflected the life of a machine. It had a function, it was mass produced, and it was only useful until it can no longer function. The eraser was an accessory that assisted the machine. In a sense, there is a parallelism between the Ball and I to the eraser and pencil.

However, the epiphany that I observed was when my creator grew frustrated from the pencil always breaking under pressure. My creator suddenly threw the pencil into the trash and opened his desk drawer once more only to bring out a mechanical pencil.

A machine's life span is from the start of its function until the point where it can no longer fulfil its objective. Wear and tear can cause machines to slow down or even break under stress. Eventually, newer models had to be designed to replace the old because they are the improved versions. All machines are going to face the same fate as those pencils: in the trash.

"Why were you there?"

Thresh's voice suddenly broke the silence of the workshop. He was just sitting there all this time watching me repair the Ball.

"Pardon?" I asked.

"Why were you at Heimerdinger's lab?" he repeated.

I stayed silent. Should I tell him? "I-I was asked to assist the professor in his scientific breakthrough," I replied. Silence fell between us once again and I assumed that Thresh was starting to grow suspicious of my answer.

Between the sounds of my mechanical gears ticking and the silence of the dimly lit room, Thresh took a deep breath and sighed. "If you don't want to tell me, then you don't have to," he said.

I stopped working and looked at the spectre, "what gave it away?" I asked.

Thresh slowly extended one finger and pointed at my face with a cold blank stare, "you stuttered, and I doubt something like you would make such an error."

"Understood," was all that I could reply because I no longer want to continue discussing about the topic.

"However," Thresh continued, "if the information is important, then you should at least tell the entire team."

Team. That is correct. I am part of a team now.

"Affirmative," I said, "it's just... I am still cautious around everyone. After all, I am a recent addition to the group."

"What has that got to do with anything?"

"It would not exactly be wise to reveal every single information I have to a group I am still struggling to trust," I replied. I spoke the truth; I've only been with these beings for less than half a day and that is unfortunately statistically less than the average amount to trust someone.

"Hmph," Thresh grunted, "I will acknowledge that." He then brought out his eerie, green lantern and placed it on the table to illuminate the environment even further. "But I would like to ask you this: why did you even bother to join us?"

I gave the logical response. "Jinx promised that she would help me with my objective, and what sentient machine would not want that?"

"Do you honestly think that she can? What if you can't?" he asked.

"Do not worry," I stated, "I have considered the possibility that everything would be for naught and have considered numerous options for me to undertake. One of which is to inform the authorities of your current location and attempt to stall you all until they arrive."

"Heh, I figured as much," Thresh snickered. It would appear that if he was in a good mood, his green aura glowed even brighter. "You fit right in with us."

"Fit in?" I questioned.

Thresh raised his hand and started to count, "we have a giant rock, a werewolf, a green reaper, and two wanted humans, which includes a gambler man and a crazy girl. We were already a weird circus group, and with you added in the equation, we're looking like a fictional group seen in children stories."

I concluded that this was one of the situations for one to laugh, so I emitted a sound to mimic that of laughter. "That is true. Ha Ha Ha."

Thresh sighed, "that was such an obvious forced laughter." He then look straight at my optics and said, "if you find it funny, then laugh, and if not, then don't."

"I thought that it was something that would statistically be amusing, so I laughed," I responded.

"If the emotion does not come from you, then do not use statistics to justify an action," the spectre replied.

"I apologise for my inability to have feelings," I said, "please forgive me for being a machine."

"No, do not apologise for being who you are," Thresh corrected. I personally did not expect Thresh to shake his head in disapproval. "Whether you are a machine or a human, your existence does not immediately define who you are."

I took those words into my processors. It was a file that was indeed very meaningful. Something in my core started to heat up, which meant that its resistance will increase, thus reducing the amount of power going throughout my body.

"Are you suggesting that just because I am a machine," I said as I stretched to wind the clock key at my back, "I can not be a machine?"

"I am suggesting that reality does not control your life," Thresh said as he raised his "eyebrow," "but rather you control your life's reality."

"So tell me, dear warden," I asked as I finished spinning my clock key, "do you think that I can act like a human?"

His expression shifted from being in a talkative mood to a more annoyed one. "Are you seriously going to do the cliché 'robot-wants-to-be-human' kind of thing?"

I placed my metallic elbows on the table, put my hands together and rested my chin on them, "my new objective is to 'find my purpose in life' and I cannot do that since I am a machine. An objective is something short-term, which benefits a machine's life span, but a purpose is something everlasting, and it's something unique to humans."

"And yet you decided to adopt such an objective," Thresh remarked.

"It's not so much as adopt, but rather questioned" I continued, "I questioned its possibility and validity. I am a machine, yet I have knowledge and data of information written and observed by biological species. I've read how they lived, felt, and died. Such information has been integrated into my processors to the point where I can perform an action which can be approximately eighty-percent accurate as to what a human might do. In conclusion, I believe it is possible for me to search for a purpose."

Thresh appeared to be amused by my philosophy, "interesting. Do continue."

"It's the validity portion that I am having trouble with," I admitted, "would it be valid for a machine to have a purpose? To what extent should a machine even have a purpose? Naturally, it differs from person to person, but a machine cannot just switch depending on the environment."

I looked at my own two hands and saw that I was capable of doing one thing and one thing only, which is to fight. "Unless we machines are better equipped with newer gadgets to face the threat of externalities, we cannot simply adapt. Adapting is something humans and other organisms do. Machines just function."

"So warden," I looked straight into his hollow eyes, "do you think that I, a machine, can possibly find such an intangible and abstract goal called 'purpose' and integrate it into my limited lifespan to the point where I am contented not just to function but also live?"

I was expecting a long period of silence after I gave my statement, but I was greeted with sudden laughter. The Chain Warden laughed mischievously and caused his eerie glow to brighten in varying levels. "You amuse me, Orianna. Slightly more than some of the souls I speak to."

"This is unexpected," I was unaware of what he was thinking and so I asked what was so humorous to him.

When he calmed down, he said, "finding a purpose is not whether it is possible or valid. Your way of thinking expects there to be a completely right or a completely wrong answer, but there isn't. The innate beauty of an individual's purpose in life is that it's discovered after all of the mistakes that we've done."

"Mis...takes?" I stuttered.

"So I tell you, Orianna," Thresh remarked as he pointed at my face, "if it is a purpose that you seek, then don't be afraid to try and make mistakes. It is through the aftermath of failing again and again that we find what it means to live."

In the few short minutes that he spoke, I've been using up most of my processing capacity to understand his words. Could it be possible that this was the answer? If all that is needed is to struggle and fail, then that's all that I have to do? If it is that simple, then why don't others do the same? Could the greatest mystery of all be solved in a single encounter? Multiple endeavours? Was this even logical?!

"Whoa, take it easy there, you're shaking," Thresh commented.

No! It's impossible! Outrageous! Inconceivable! This absolutely makes no sense. No logical being could accept this as an answer. And yet, did it not make sense? Is the end goal measured by the hardships one takes? Why? Why does it work like that? Does it even work like that? What if I-

"Snap out of it!" Thresh outstretched his arm and slapped me in the face. It was only then that I realised that small wisps of steam was being produced from my metallic surface. I was staggering and my clockwork parts were ticking slower than usual.

"I... needed that," I said as I attempted to reach for my clock key, "thanks." Unfortunately, I was unable to reach it in time.

With another sigh, Thresh grabbed my clock key and gave it a few turns, "allow me to assist in your, uh, recovery."

With a couple of turns, I had enough power to function normally again. Thresh allowed me to rest for a while to allow my internal system to cool off. So I went back to repairing the Ball.

Moments pass and I assumed that I was well enough to continue talking to the warden. "Thresh, what does it mean to be human?"

Thresh tilted his head in confusion, "are you sure that you won't have a breakdown?"

"I am positive," I replied.

"To be honest, I do not know," Thresh said as he shook his head, "and I've lived for a long, long time. Why do you ask?"

"Well, I just assumed that if I can comprehend what it means to be human, I can avoid reasoning with such things as a machine," I said. "However, I guess I cannot understand since I do not possess a soul."

"Unfortunately, you are mistaken," Thresh commented.

Stunned, I asked, "what do you mean?"

"Will you have another breakdown if I have this discussion with you?" he asked with his arms crossed.

"I am fine," I replied once again, "thanks for your concern."

The spectre then lifted up his lantern and I saw small wisps dancing around it. The eerie warden used two of his skeletal fingers to pluck one of them and let it rest at the palm of my hand.

"This soul belonged to a cannibal," he started with a dark and cold voice, "he did not speak in a language that could be comprehended. He was vicious, strong, and crazy. He was once captured and taken in to be nurtured back to society. He was given food, shelter, and love. And yet- he did not change. He killed them all and consumed their flesh."

I would not admit that I support this supernatural phenomenon, but I had the sudden urge to return the tiny soul back to him.

"This one," he continued as he pulled out another and placed it on my other hand, "belonged to an elementary school teacher. She loved the children and they loved her too. She would sing to them, feed them, and play with them. There were those who joked that she was obsessed with kids, while others just adored her for her tender-loving care. Want to know how I found her?"

I nodded.

"I saw her seated down in a room. She was in a straightjacket at a solitary confinement. She said that the world today is not fit for the innocent children. People are corrupted with greed, lust, and malice. She said that she was doing what was right for the children. She shouted that the ones who locked her up didn't have a heart, and that she saved those children with her love. Do you know what she did? She poisoned them. All to 'save them' from the world."

"Under... stood," that was probably the slowest response I have ever said today.

"So tell me," the warden asked, "given that you hold these two souls in your hands, were they human? Their souls are, but were they even close to understand what it means to be human?"

I didn't need much thought on my decision. "Neither of them," I answered.

"Exactly," Thresh sounded pleased with my response.

"However," I interrupted, "the term 'being human' by default tends to have a positive denotation when in reality it is just as negative. Perhaps these two souls are what humanity is like pushed to their limits."

"Are you sure that you are not comparing humanity to their animalistic sides?" Thresh asked.

"I am merely stating a fact," I commented.

"Nevertheless," Thresh replied as he gathered and returned the two souls from my hands, "these two had human souls and acted inhumane. Compared to them, you're more... understanding."

"Maybe there's more to being human than simply being understanding," I said.

Contented with my answer, the warden smiled and closed his eyes, "as you may know, I can sense that you do not have a soul. However," he opened his eyes, "a seed does not need one to grow into a beautiful flower."

"Are you, the Chain Warden, trying to cheer me up?" I questioned.

"The least you could do is appreciate the effort," he sighed.

I knew that it was futile since I possessed no emotion of happiness, but at the same time I wanted to show some level of appreciation to an ally who I am slowly growing to trust. "Tee hee," I laughed, "thank you."

Thresh grinned and relaxed with a contented expression, "now continue in repairing the Ball. I'll just either observe or be alone with my thoughts."

"Affirmative," I replied.

I returned to my work and my internal gears didn't feel as hot anymore. Each individual part was very relaxed as if they were just newly oiled and polished. By human standards, this would probably be equivalent to feeling at peace.

I've decided. Once I repair the Ball and when everyone wakes up, I would tell them about my involvement to Sir Heimerdinger's research and the generator. These people may appear to be misfits and outlaws, but there's something about them that makes them very unique. It's almost as if each member is satisfied with one another.

I placed one hand to my chest and could feel my core, the Infinity Gear, whirring as it produces energy for my operations. It's time to tell them. After all, it is unwise to keep too many secrets from your allies.

End of Log.

* * *

~A rooftop~

Earlier that day, before the sun even rose. Someone appeared on a rooftop that towered the metropolitan streets of Piltover. He rushed to the only door on the roof but before he even took two steps, the door opened.

"Good," the man said as he tipped his hat, "you're already here. Look, I don't have much time. I told them that I was going to steal a phone char-"

The man suddenly stopped talking because it appeared that there was no response from whoever was behind the door. He took a step further, but not too far. Cautiously, he approached the door, and if there was no response within the next thirty seconds, he would leave.

Out of the veil of shadows, someone stepped forward.

"Eve-" before he could even finish, the man was interrupted with a red dot suddenly hovering on his forehead.

"-ning," he finished.

As twilight began to fade, the two were successful in exchanging information. The man left the roof in a small cloud of smoke and appeared at an old clock tower. He then brought out a small phone charger, which had been in his pocket the entire time.

* * *

**Glad that you read it all the way through! I apologise if there's any individual who's acting out of character, but hey, it's only a story. I attempted to write a first-person using Ori's Point of View. It was tasking since idk if I'm doing it right. I'm aiming for an innocent machine. Knowledgable, yet ignorant. Exercises logic, but also understands what emotions are. Hope I'm doing okay. **

**As always, don't feed! Feed-back!**

**Review Corner!**

**kewelstory: I'm glad that you're still reading the story! I'm honestly surprised myself to see how well it's doing! I try to make my story incorporate the lore of the Champs. And as we all know, those who read the lore suck at actually playing the game. Jk. Everything from lore to skins will be in my mind as I continue to make more chapters! And well, yeah, I pictured Thresh to be a necessary evil. I mean look at his skills! Would an evil spirit just help you traverse a great distance and safely bringing you away from your enemies? Once again, you have my thanks. **

**Gea5s: I expected my grammar to be subpar since I usually write these stories when I'm bored in class or sleepy late at night. I try to proof read it, but from experience, it's hard to find errors if you reread your own work. I an humbled for you to think that this story is unique and I thank you as well! I read bashes as well just to see what I can improve on. His ex? Well, I will confirm that I will make TF have all of the female Champion's phone numbers in his cell. ^_^**

**Kerbal: Hey, I'm still glad that I get emails that people read this story! The reactions come and they never fail to make me smile :) Yeah, fight-writing's tough for me 'cause it's not my style. I'm more of a mystery-suspense kind of writer. TF and Yasuo? Maybe some other time lol. No problem that you were late! Belated seasons greetings and I will continue writing!**

**Souma: Welcome to the review corner! Yep! Some are messed up such as Thresh's story, and about 3 or 4 of my actual characters are out of character. Thank you for your feedback! I hope that I will continue to keep up with your expectations! As for Malphite's height, I searched somewhere that he was 36 feet tall. I think it was from a league forum? A Reddit forum? I forgot, but that was where I also found Jinx's height. **

**Guest 1: Yep! Hope you will like this new chapter! Now I'm not saying that I'm the best at making cliffhangers, but making them adds suspense and mystery! Plus, it might attract you to wait for the next one! **

**Guest 2: I have no idea if you're joking or flaming (all caps confuse me of the true meaning). I will admit that I've turned Warwick into a walking scent detector, but I would like to include that he is part wolf, and wolves have a very sensitive sense of smell compared to sight and hearing. Plus, y'know, his E. In the end, I'll keep your review in mind as I continue to write more so thanks!**


	10. Orianna Log 2

**Author's Note:**

**Hey all! I know it's been a looooooong while, but here it is! **

**Now I've made a mistake when I tried to do a 1st person take on Orianna and I can tell you that it was difficult for me. I had to try to envelop who Orianna was and think in her perspective. I tried getting inspiration from other android robots or AI like Aigis from Persona 3 and even GLADOS from Portal to name a few, but I just couldn't get a good feel for it. I think that doing a 1st person delayed how fast I could finish this.**

**So I'm going to stop with the 1st person here and go back to 3rd. You can observe that I'm writing in a 3rd person POV in some of the scenes down here. **

**I'm sorry for keeping you waiting, and I know that some of the old readers may have left, but to the new ones I say hello! Enjoy the story!**

* * *

Recollection Log:

It's been a week since my creation.

I saw my creator weeping upon his desk.

In his hands, he held a photograph.

It was a picture of him smiling with someone at his side.

There was a small girl in a pink ballerina dress.

The two of them appear to be dancing.

I approached him and asked, "why are you crying?"

He was surprised to find me there.

His eyes were heavy and red from crying.

His face was formed with a mixture of sadness and grief.

He collected himself and replied, "come here my child."

I did as what I was instructed to do.

He pointed at the little girl in the photo.

"That is my daughter Orianna."

He then spoke highly of her as if she was the most important person in his life.

"It was her birthday last week, so I was just... reminiscing."

He teared up even more.

I asked, "She is Orianna? And I am Orianna?"

He stopped, looked at my optics and placed his hand on my head.

"You are Orianna... you are my daughter."

He then placed the photo down and kissed my metallic forehead.

His statement was...

Illogical.

* * *

~Current Location: Old Piltover Clocktower~

It was early in the morning, approximately eight seventeen, when I finished fixing the Ball. A familiar sound whizzed in the air and my partner floated once more. It brought out its eyestalk to check if I was okay, to which I replied that I was fine. I managed to update the Ball as to the events that have transpired and it accepted everything without any sudden reactions.

However, before I can continue any further, I heard the door open and revealed an awakened Jinx in a cotton unicorn onesie.

"G'morning Clock Girl," she said with a yawn, "I see you fixed R2BB while we were all sleeping."

"Must you nickname everything Jinx?" Thresh asked. The warden never rested and has watched me quietly fix the Ball the entire evening. At first, he appeared to be fascinated by the in the mechanics of machines, but after an hour, he grew bored and left my side.

"What? It's a loveable round object that communicates in beeps and boops!" the pig-tailed youth replied. She then grabbed my arm and said, "c'mere Clock Girl! We girls have to stick together!"

Before I could even have a chance to resist, she pulled me away from the workbench and made haste to the plush room. There, I saw my allies still asleep; Warwick curled up in a ball, Twisted Fate lying down with his hat covering his face, and a reduced Malphite sitting in the corner.

Jinx then opened another door, pushed me inside it, and then locked the door. The room had a basket, a sink, a shower and...

"Jinx, are you-" but before I could finish my question, Jinx already answered it by removing her onesie and clothes and jumped into the shower tub.

"You just make sure that nobody peeps okay?" she said as she let hot water fall from the shower head to her body, "this is the first time I've had a slumber party with a lot of boys, so you got my back right?"

Steam quickly formed and surrounded the room and I fear that it would affect my internal mechanisms and cause them to short circuit later on. "Jinx, this is highly unnecessary."

"No, this is totally necessary," she replied as she got some shampoo and applied it to her hair.

"I do not wish to join you as you bathe because-"

"Yeah yeah," she responded as she poked her head out, "water can affect your clockwork technology, and I get that, which is why I didn't drag you IN the shower. I just wanted you to stay with me!"

"You know of my interior designs?" I asked with great interest.

"I'm a professional stalker" she replied, "an inherent trait of young girls. I've read papers about you when your dad-"

"Creator," I corrected.

"Ugh, fine, your _creator_, applied you to become a Champion," Jinx continued, "interesting choice of metals I may add. Fesmus, Ignarium, Kyrite, and loads more. You're made up of metals and alloys that resist the greatest of temperatures and corrosion, but are susceptible to short circuitry the fastest."

I was in awe to find out that she knew so much about my parts and pieces, "h-how do you know all this?"

"Fishbones reads a lot," she replied, "so how's the whole 'purpose in life' thing going?"

"Thresh gave me his opinion," I responded as I picked her clothes up and placed them into a laundry basket, "when I said that I cannot find a purpose because I'm not human, he talked about how having no soul makes no difference in being human. Reality does not define me; I define my reality."

"Amen to that," Jinx said, "Match Stick sure has a way with words."

I recalled my discussion with the warden and it did give me a lot of information, which I am thankful for, "I agree. He helped me cope with myself, even if it was only by a little bit"

"Then why not ask everyone?"

"Pardon?" I asked.

Jinx showed her head once more and spoke, "why not ask everyone about their opinion? I mean, it might help you understand your objective more."

"Affirmative," I agreed, "although facts and proven knowledge usually assists me in defining my usual objectives, this one is very abstract in nature. I shall accept your suggestion."

"Good for you Clock Girl! Jinx exclaimed with a glad expression.

"So maybe I could ask for yours," I said, "what do-"

"Nooooo...upupupupup,"Jinx blabbered, "you haven't got enough friend points for you to ask me that."

I questioned the very actions of our leader, "friend points?"

"Yep!" Jinx said as she turned off the shower and stepped out, "no offense Clock Girl, but as much as I am chatty, I don't like to talk about my personal life! Ask Fishbones! He'll vouch for me!"

I remained unmoved from the response of the beaming girl in front of me. "Are you serious?"

The blue haired adolescent dried herself with a towel and replied, "yeah, I know that I can be mean, but hey, that's just who I am! I have to stick with the 'mystery psycho' schtick, but yeah, I'll answer all of your questions if you rack up some points!"

As the steam slowly left the room, I then formulated a conclusion, "so if I gain enough of these... '_friend points_' I'll get to hear your opinion?" Truly this sort of conversation is only something children would discuss.

"Wow, you really wanna do this huh?" she replied as she wrapped her hair in a tower and made one of those towel hats, "hope you played a lot of RPGs because this'll be a fun game to play!"

Jinx hopped a few times while clapping her hands, and the barely clothed individual nearly slipped. Unfortunately I'll have to play her little game if I want to find some answers. The answers I have in mind aren't just about her opinion of what the purpose of life is, but also about her background and why her weapons bears such symbols.

"Now here are a bunch of rules that I made up using a combination of TV shows and my creative imagination! First of all, the points don't matter! Second, you are awarded points for whatever I feel like giving! Third, the more points you have, the stronger your summons-"

As much as I wanted to listen to her instructions, I noticed that I was functioning a fraction slower then my norm. I reached towards by back side to turn my clock key, and as I turned it, the Loose Cannon observed my actions.

"What'cha doooooooooing?" Jinx asked.

"I am turning my-"

"Is this your _on_ switch?" Jinx interrupted me before I could explain. She sounded rather... menacing.

"It's not a switch, it's a key," I clarified, "if you turn it-"

"Oh an _on_ key! How innovative! Lemme lemme!" Jinx immediately tried to grab my clock key, but I sidestepped away from her.

"I advise that you control yourself," I explained, "this is a very sensitive part of me."

Jinx turned her head towards me with a glimmer in her eye and a wide mischievous smile grew on her expression.

"I wanna touch it! Can I? Please? Please? PLEASE CAN I TOUCH IT?!" she screamed with her hands in a groping motion.

"No, I forbid you to-"

Before I could finish, she pounced towards me once more and I barely dodged her attempt to harm me.

"Aw come on Clock Girl! Let's have some fun! We can take turns!" She said as she tried to corner me.

"Why must you insist on doing this?" I said as I defended myself.

"Because we're both girls! It's practically normal!" her voice was getting louder and louder and she appeared to be getting very excited.

"I'm afraid that you'll break it, Jinx," she stood between me and the door, and unfortunately the bathtub was right behind me.

"Don't worry, I'll be gentle," she said with a sly grin.

"Are you thinking of pushing me into the tub?" I asked as I attempted to read her next course of actions.

"That's not the only thing I'll be pushing! C'mere you!"

She lunged at me with her arms stretched to the side in an attempt to prevent any escape, but in the last second, I made a feint to the side and as she tried to catch me, I quickly turned and ducked beneath her arms. Her momentum prevented her from stopping and with a little push, I made her fall into the tub.

She let out a small grunt along with a loud thud and I headed towards the door to exit. "Farewell Jinx," I said as I turned the knob and opened the door, only to be surprised by the sheer number of people who were standing outside.

Malphite, Twisted Fate, and Warwick were already awake and stood immediately in front of the door as I bumped into them. The sudden surprise caught me off guard, "what are you all doing?" I asked.

"Um, uh," Twisted Fate stammered as he hid his face by tipping his hat downwards, "we, uh, heard a commotion and-"

"We thought that something happened," Warwick continued as he looked at the floor to avoid my gaze, "and w-we thought that something was wrong."

Their answers were rather... suspicious. Additionally it would appear that both their hearts were racing, and since they are looking away, one can conclude that they felt embarrassed for some reason.

To gather more information, I asked the one member who I believe was the most truthful, "Malphite, what exactly happened here?"

The stalwart figure crossed his arms and said, "I awoke to some screaming and I saw these two listening intently as to what was happening in that room you were just in. They were curious. _Very_ curious."

Both individuals froze in their silence.

Gathering these information, I arrived to a conclusion, and while I cannot understand the logical reason behind it, it was indeed the most likely one. "You do realise that I am not human correct?" I asked.

"Y-yeah," the gambler said.

"I am a machine," I clarified once more.

"We got that," the wolf replied.

"So then why are you assuming that Jinx and I are-"

That was when a small black object came from behind me and into the middle of our group. I recognised it instantly, but I was too slow to move away. The tiny object ignited and caused a cloud of smoke to envelope all of us. All of a sudden, I felt a shove from behind and I was pushed towards the three others and I heard the door behind me close.

"NO PEEPING! GET OUT!" Jinx yelled. I almost forgot that she was left alone in the bathroom with only a towel to cover her.

As the smoke cleared, we all got up to our feet and I wondered where she got the smoke grenade from. All of the commotion caught the attention of Thresh who arrived and asked, "what's going on?"

"Jinx is currently inside changing," I replied, "and these two were rather creative with their imaginations as to what Jinx and I were doing inside.

"Ah the folly of human emotions, or is '_fantasies_' a better choice?" Thresh snickered, "do forgive them."

"Forgive them my ass!" Jinx opened the door and was fully clothed, but was unable to tie her hair into her usual twin tails, and her long blue hair made her look like a different person. "They were trying to peep on us girls!"

"And what were you two doing?" Thresh asked.

"Well Match Stick, I was exploring Clock Girl's... _sensitive_ sides," Jinx snickered. I honestly wished that she didn't have to use such innuendoes to describe the situation.

"Sensitive sides?" Thresh wondered. The spectre looked like he was trying to understand the young girl's words. Seeing how he and her performed in many league matches in their history together, maybe he knows her far more than we do.

"Yeah! Check out that key at her back!" she beamed as she pointed at me.

"Oh, it was her key," Warwick said quietly to Twisted Fate, but the gambler nudged him away saying, "of course it was the key! I knew that all along."

"Ah, her clock key," Thresh was content with the answer, "is it really a sensitive part of you? You seemed to be fine when I turned it."

"Match Stick! How could you?!" Jinx exclaimed with shock.

Thresh raised an open hand in front, "please control yourself. Do you honestly believe that I would commit any act of perversion onto our metallic ally?"

"Don't you mean _alloy_? Huh? Huh? Am I right?" Jinx waited for a high-five opportunity, but nobody offered any, so she high-fived herself.

Thresh then approached me and gestured to the others saying, "I do believe that it's best to use this time to fully introduce yourself to the group."

"But they already know who I am," I argued.

"True," he replied, "they know who you are, but they don't know what you are and what you and that Ball of yours can do."

Everyone's eyes were then fixated on me and for once, I had the floor all to myself. I bowed towards my audience and began to introduce myself on how I will best fit in this rather unique group.

"My name is Orianna," I began as I lifted my head, "I am a machine created by Sir Corin Reveck in the image of his deceased daughter. As you all can see, I am based on the old clockwork mechanisms and function as so. Due to my clockwork body, I am not as advanced as compared to other robots and machines popularised in the modern world."

I allowed myself to pause and wind up my key so that they could take a moment to understand what I have just said. Each time I turned the key, I powered myself up and my inner mechanisms began to whirr and clank. I myself understand my body's limitations and I do not believe that it's a hindrance to what I can achieve. Such as the machines in the past, what difference does a knife compare to a plasma cannon when it means to kill someone?

"If you may recall, I possess a variety of unique abilities such as creating energy shields," I outstretched my arms in a defensive stance and produced an orange shield on one arm and a green on on the other, "the orange one is wider but weak while the green one is narrower but stronger." Jinx was clapping her hands in amazement while I heard Twisted Fate whistle; he was impressed.

"My hands can also shoot small caliber bullets, but in the event that I run out, they can deliver electric shocks in close combat to stun enemies," I then switched my hands into a buzz saw on the right and a torch on the left, "for close encounters, I may use this Aquilarium saw to cut my foes and the torch operates like an electric lighter and does not run on fuel." I then returned my hands back to normal and pointed at my visors, "I have enhanced optic senses such as x-ray and thermal scanners and I have knowledge of a variety of martial arts, which I can use to give myself an advantage over my opponent."

I noticed that Warwick tensed up, and he probably reacted so because I do recall paralysing him in our last encounter. I then commanded the Ball to float by my side and I held it in my arms, "the Ball functions the same as you all remember from your encounters with me in the Rift such as creating strong fields that can slow enemies and hasten allies along with a shield and shockwave. Additionally, my creator thought that it would be a good idea to allow the Ball to produce it's own Wifi so that he and his colleagues can access the internet .

"Aaaaaaaaand this is the part where I ask the password to the wifi," Jinx said as she brought her phone out, "what's the name of R2BB's wifi?"

"I think it's 'The Ball-erina,' little miss," the Cardmaster said as he checked his own phone, "and what's the password Ori?"

"The Ball can provide it for you, just lend him your phones," I stated. The Ball left my side and made its way to Twisted Fate. He was hesitant at first to give his phone, but when he did, the Ball extended its eyestalk and two small metallic crab-like legs. Twisted Fate was so surprised that he nearly dropped his phone.

"Oh!" I remembered, "I forgot to mention that if the Ball is running low on energy, he can shift to a crawler mode and reserve his power. Think of him like a crab or a spider."

"A round, metallic, four-legged spider-crab with an eyestalk," the gambler winced as he faced the phone towards the Ball and allowed it to tap a lengthy password into the small device.

"Aww, why not just let R2BB roll if he's low on power?" Jinx asked as she gave the phone to the Ball for the password.

"The legs allow him to climb vertically," I responded.

"Fine," Jinx sighed as she got the phone back from the Ball, "thanks R2BB," she said as she patted the Ball on its surface. The Ball chimed and beeped and I sensed that he enjoyed it. "He appreciated the gesture Jinx," I said for my symbiotic ally who cannot speak.

"Awwwww, the pleasure's all mine! High five!" Jinx brought up her hand and the Ball responded by bumping into it.

"You use up a lot of power don't you?" Warwick finally spoke, "and the Ball as well."

"That is correct," I answered, "the Ball can recharge itself by solar energy, but I cannot. As you all know, I occasionally turn my clock key, which is located at my back."

"It's pretty hard to miss," Malphite said in a gruff voice. Part of me was wondering how much of the entire introduction did he really understand.

"This key connects to my core," I continued as I put my hands to my chest, "within me resides my creator's greatest creation: the Infinity Gear. The Infinity Gear is a semi-perpetual generator, though it is not as powerful as you may think. Since energy cannot be created nor destroyed, it transforms mechanical energy into electricity. As long as I turn the clock key, my core can produce energy to power myself up."

"Hm... I've heard rumours about Revek's generator, but I've never seen him show it," Warwick stated.

"My creator avoided any media releases regarding the Infinity Gear," I replied.

"And why not? He would have been famous for his work!" Warwick argued.

"When he finished creating the Infinity Gear, Orianna Revek died," I answered. "The grief and suffering changed him. He wondered what good is it being a renowned scientist when he lost his child? He then refused to be known as the scientist who created the Infinity Gear, but rather he wanted to be known as a father who loved his daughter so much that he created a robot who he loved. This is what I was told."

The room became quiet save for the sounds coming from my spinning cogs and gears. I understand that my response regarding my creator's daughter's death would create this atmosphere, but I didn't expect these kinds of people to feel so... _sorry_ for her. They hardly even know her! And yet...

"Moving on," I said since I wanted to finish my introduction, "I can keep turning the key until I have enough power for a day, and if I turn it pass its recommended capacity, I will overheat, which is why I said that it is a sensitive part of me."

"Hee hee, my bad," Jinx smiled.

"Professor Heimerdinger knew of the Infinity Gear's existence and wanted to study it," I continued, "so he asked my creator time and time again to see if he can use the Infinity Gear as a reference to develop an actual perpetual generator. After a few months, my Father agreed, and that is how I was found in Heimerdinger's lab by you five."

"Y'know," the gambler said, "this makes a lot of sense now that I think about it. I mean, when the yordle announced that he was almost finished in creating free energy, I kinda though, 'wait, doesn't Ori fit the bill?' and here you are!"

"Unfortunately, I cannot produce enough energy to power up cities," I admitted, "however the professor was able to create a working generator from scratch that has the capacity for producing large amounts of energy. However, he is unable to reduce the amount of excess heat produced by the generator to a minimum."

"True," Warwick said, "a device like that is sure to produce large amounts of heat. And one of the biggest issues with creating a perpetual generator is that it will always be inefficient because energy is lost through heat. But wait, he built it from scratch? Doesn't Revek have his research notes and workings?"

"Correct, if he still had them then it wouldn't take this long to create the generator, but unfortunately he burned everything.

"B-but why?" the wolf asked.

"I quote, 'I no longer want to be a scientist. I want to be a loving father to you, my child.' This was after I was created and long after Orianna Revek passed away."

"Ahhh, a man locked up in his own prison of grief," Thresh spoke, "such a classical tale; one everyone falls into sooner or later."

"So lemme get this straight," Twisted Fate spoke, "the generator, which is currently missing, was made after Heim was researching on your Infinity Gear?"

"Affirmative," I answered.

"And that although you're the original, the one that Heim made is better and more efficient?"

"Correct."

"So then, by taking you with us..." Twisted Fate continued, "Heim basically lost the blueprints to making a new generator?"

I thought about it for a moment, and there was some bearing in his words. The professor did write down notes regarding his findings when he examined my core, but I don't believe it's enough to recreate his generator.

"That is correct," I replied, "is there an issue?"

Twisted Fate's expression shifted to a very concerned look, "Jinx, you got a TV somewhere around here?"

"Pfft, Fancy Pants! Who buys TV's anymore when you have laptops?" Jinx then went to the plush pit and approached a big Renekton plush doll, which was smiling with its teeth. She then reached towards the side of its mouth and unzipped the teeth to reveal a laptop and a mouse.

"Remind me to ask where you buy these dolls, little miss," Twisted Fate said.

"Made 'em myself," Jinx replied as she went to her desk, "gotta make money somehow!"

We all approached the young girl and as the Ball keyed in the wifi password, I inquired as to what we were so suddenly concerned of.

"We're most likely on the news, and since we're the ones who broke into the PSR and "stole" the generator, I'm concerned about how wanted we've become," Twisted Fate responded.

"Oh crap, you don't mean..." before Warwick could finish, Jinx opened up a video link.

"This is Janna reporting on the recent attack on the PSR," the video clip showed a picture of Janna in her reporter outfit along with a slide with a picture of five people, who were Jinx, Warwick, Thresh, Malphite, and Twisted Fate. "Last night, a group of five Champions not only kidnapped the highly acclaimed Professor Heimerdinger, but also broke into the Piltover Science Ring and presumably stole the professor's new generator!"

"Hey! That's not us!" Jinx argued, "well... the last part wasn't us at least."

"No scientists were harmed and the professor was rescued by Piltover's finest along with the collaboration of the Riot Squad. Unfortunately, Officers Jayce and Vi have sustained heavy injuries, but reports say that they will be able to recover soon after some rest."

"Good to hear," Malphite commented. I genuinely believe that the stone titan does in fact wish not to harm anyone, and yet he is perceived by many as a rampaging goliath.

"Not only have they stolen the generator, it appears that they have also taken Orianna, the robot who Professor Heimerdinger says is a key figure in developing the generator, and that without her, it would take him years to recreate his generator."

"Oh, I can see why you grew concerned about your situation," I said.

"They can't exactly prove that we stole the generator, but they can clearly see that you were with us." Twisted Fate explained, "and I believe that's enough to stage a manhunt. The generator's so valuable not only for Piltover, but for Runeterra itself!"

"The police have now issued that for three days, nobody will be able to use the warp portals to leave the city. Planes and ships have also been told to not to leave. A curfew will be implemented starting today. Sheriff Caitlyn asks the citizens to remain calm and cooperate, and that within three days she guarantees that these criminals will be found."

"Heh, we're on lockdown now," Thresh said.

"Following the abduction of Orianna," Janna continued, "Professor Revek was reported to be begging the police to find her."

The picture shifted from Janna's newscast room to an image of my creator. He still wore his old spectacles his wife bought him years ago, and he wore a very plain shirt instead of his usual lab coat, which meant that he just received the news of my "abduction." His white hair was messy, and he showed numerous signs of anxiety and restlessness. From what I recall, he moved away from his research lab, and currently resides in a small house in Piltover city. Tears were in my creator's sad and heavy eyes. Does he really have this much emotion for a robot?

"PLEASE SHERIFF!" He said straight into the camera's eyes, "Please find my Orianna!" The tired old man brought out a picture of himself sitting down in a chair, with me, the machine Orianna, standing by his side. "Please find my daughter!" The old man then began to cry, and as the tears fell down the side of his face, he cried out, "ORIANNAAAAAA!" Was he talking about me? Or his daughter?

"He's gone mad," I spoke.

"He's in grief," Twisted Fate corrected.

"He's calling me his daughter," I objected, "it's illogical."

"Logic tells you which action to do," Thresh said as he put his hand on my metallic shoulder, "but emotion drives you to either do it, or not."

"Then you too are admitting that it's illogical," I concluded.

"That may be so, but in his heart, he knows what he's doing is right, and he finds that there is nothing wrong in calling you his daughter," Thresh finished. It was rather strange receiving advice from a spectre who torments souls. It's almost surreal even.

"Well, guys," Jinx said as she closed her laptop, "looks like we gotta lay low, which means we've got to get more disguises! Do you know what that means Fancy Pants?" she asked while beaming towards the gambler.

"Understood," Twisted Fate said as he wore his hat.

"It's SHOPPING TIIIIIIIIME!" Jinx yelled in excitement. "Let me just search on some things and Fancy Pants and I can search for Clock Girl's newest disguise!"

"For... me?" I asked.

"Ori, given your... nature," Twisted Fate said, "it'll be difficult to blend in crowds, let alone walk outside without drawing the attention of the police."

"A logical statement, however, how will you plan on making me less suspicious?" I asked with genuine curiosity, "how will you make me seem... human?"

"You can leave that to us!" Jinx said as she gave me a thumbs up. "We'll stop by a hex-tech store and some hardware shops along the way!"

"That being said, getting that generator's going to be more and more difficult as time goes by," Twisted Fate grew deeply worried about finding the stolen generator.

"So Fate," Warwick said, "how're the calls going? Has your ex called you back?"

"No," the gambler sighed, "and she probably never will."

"Who are we talking about?" Malphite's sturdy voice boomed.

Silence fell onto the atmosphere and everyone else except for Malphite knew who TF was talking about.

"My dear rocky friend," Twisted Fate began, "a long time ago, I liked a girl, and she liked me. We had a thing going on and I actually felt... happy. She got along with my siblings, and I got along with her... hobbies. But, all good things must come to an end." The gentleman tipped his hat to cover his face. "Plus, not only do we have no way of contacting her, we can't even find her! So the longer we take, the farther she gets!"

Malphite stood there thinking who the mystery woman Twisted Fate was talking about. By process of elimination, there are a couple of people who could fit that vague description. Shauna Vayne and Le Blanc could match the profile, but one article from a few years back had a picture or two of a couple who left a Tango dance competition with a trophy.

"He's talking about Evelynn you dimwit!" Warwick said angrily.

"Oh. Now I get it," Malphite said with a smile as if he got it without any hints.

"Yeah, so we have to come up with a plan as soon as possible," Twisted Fate looked towards Jinx and asked, "think we can ask Fishbones what he thinks, little miss?"

"Nah, we can ask him later!" Jinx replied as she closed her laptop, "let's go shopping!"

"Jinx, I'm worried that you're not taking this situation seriously," Thresh said in dismay, "I know Eve and with the Nightbloom she uses, even Warwick can't track her."

"Details, details Match Stick," Jinx replied nonchalantly, "Fishbones will figure it out sooner or later, isn't that right you cute little rocket launcher?" She then nudged her nose next to Fishbone's face and moves his jaw saying in her weapon's voice, "yeah, I think I can come up with something."

"That's a good boy!" Jinx replied in her regular voice. "Now where's my purse?"

"You left it in one of your pockets," Fishbones replied.

"Why thank you for reminding me Fishbones! I would be completely lost without you!" Jinx kissed her launcher and found her purse in her chest pocket. "I'll go get dressed up again, and when I come out, we're leaving, ya got that Fancy Pants?"

"Loud and clear Jinx," Twisted Fate bowed, "I'll go get changed in the workshop area."

Both Jinx and Twisted Fate left in opposite directions and soon Warwick, Thresh and Malphite dispersed as well. I was left alone, and wondered what I should do in the meantime. Perhaps I can try locating where Evelynn was? The success rate of that happening would be very low though. Then Jinx's words came back to me, 'why not ask everyone?'

Thresh already opened up to me, so I decided to speak to Warwick next.

The wolf sat next to a corner overlooking the plush pit and as he saw me arrive, he asked, "hey Ori, you think that Jinx is in over her head?"

"If you are asking if she's insane, I wouldn't think so," I replied, "she does appear to be suffering from a split-personality disorder however.

"Think she'll be able to recover?" Warwick seemed to be less angry now and more... concerning towards Jinx.

"I am not certain, but there are instances where people do recover," I replied with confidence.

"Yeah... that's good news," Warwick said as he scratched his ear, "so what do you want?"

"I was wondering if I could ask you what does it mean to be human," I asked. Silence fell between the two of us and only the sounds of my inner gears could be heard.

"You're still working towards that new objective of yours huh?" Warwick said as he looked away from my eyes.

"Yes," I confirmed.

"Look Ori, my best advice for you is to not ask for any advice," Warwick replied. His reply was rather counter intuitive.

"Pardon?" I asked.

"You see this?" Warwick stood up and turned around showing his entire furry body from head to tail, "you wanna know how I became this?"

I only nodded to respond.

"I was turned into this BECAUSE people kept telling me what to do," Warwick said as he sat down, "I was once a person who... supplied subjects to other people. Think of me as a manhunter. I was good at my job; damned good, but the demand just kept on growing and growing. Soon, I'm not taking requests anymore." Warwick snarled as if he was recalling some frustrating memories. "I've received orders. Threats even. The people who paid me now held a knife under my neck. I couldn't just say no anymore. I had to work. I had to find people. I HAD TO HUNT!" Warwick let out a chilling howl across the room as he embraced his animal self. "The rest you already know. I drank a potion made by Singed. Though incomplete, it helped me get strength. Strength to seek my prey. Strength to fight against my enemies."

"So now..." I hesitated to ask, but I needed to. The information was too critical for my knowledge, "are you happy?"

"Hrng?" Warwick looked confused from my sudden question, "you're asking about happiness? Thought it was about being human?"

"Correct, but to be human means I have to have emotions," I stated, "but as you know, I only know of the concept of emotions; I do not feel them. Perhaps if you, someone who has been threatened, abused, and deprived of humanity, still feel happy, then maybe I can learn something new."

Warwick scratched his head with his foot like a wild wolf, "you're not making a lot of sense. I mean, you are, but your words sound confused. I will say this, be your own boss. Don't care about what other people think or say." He then placed one claw to tap my head, "the only opinion that matters is yours. The moment you keep asking and receiving opinions from others is the moment your life's not yours anymore."

I took his words and saved them into my memory bank. Something about this animal- Correction. This human. Something about him makes me feel at ease. I then brought out my hand and reached out to him. My metallic fingers brushed against his fur and he asked, "what are you doing?"

"I am thanking you," I replied as I scratched him under his chin, "I've read that animals such as small puppies like it when they get scratched in this area."

The moment I suggested that he was a small animal caused him to be annoyed, "I can bite off this hand of yours you know?" He threatened.

"I know, but I also know that you won't," I fought back.

"Whatever, you're doing it wrong anyways," he said as he crossed his arms, "...you have to scratch behind the ears."

"Affirmative. Forgive me," I said as I moved over to scratch him by the ears. I observed that his long furry tail wagged behind him.

"Alright, not get outta here before I REALLY bite your hand off," he growled.

"Fine." I stopped and began to walk away. I only walked for a short distance when I heard him say, "Ori."

I turned and he continued saying, "despite losing pretty much everything. I'm pretty happy. Thanks for asking."

I received his gesture warmly and I began to edit my data banks of Warwick. The reports of an angry beast that devastates towns and innocents? I just spoke to that same individual, and he was more human than most. "You are very welcome," I replied.

I left him alone and then I heard Jinx and Twisted Fate walk across towards the exit. "We'll be right back!" The door slammed shut and I heard Malphite politely say "stay safe" afterwards. I saw Malphite on one end of the plush pit toying with a small stuffed rhino. He had to shrink down so that he wouldn't crush any of Jinx's belongings and he was around my height. I approached what the records declare to be, "the most deadliest force on the planet" and I sat next to him.

"Malphite?" I asked.

"Yes?" He replied without even looking at me. He looked so fascinated towards the tiny inanimate object; it was almost as if he was looking at it with a child's curiosity.

"What do you think it means to live?" I asked.

He initially didn't respond, and when he finally opened his mouth, he bluntly said, "it's small." He was talking about the stuffed rhino.

"It is," I said. It was obvious.

"It's soft," he continued.

"Yes." Has he ever seen one of these toys?

"I can smash it," he said suddenly, but he then tossed it back to the pit with the other stuffed animals. "But then Jinx would get mad at me."

"Yes she would," I started being cautious towards the being right next to me.

"Do you know what that feels like?" He asked. His eyes were focused on my lenses and he was genuinely interested in my response.

"I do," I observed that Malphite usually spoke straightforwardly, so it might be best if I did the same.

"Do you really?" He asked once more.

"I can destroy it," I replied.

"Did you know that I didn't know what it meant to be violent?" He asked as he picked up a stuffed bear and a stuffed bull.

"What do you mean?" I questioned.

He began to carefully play with the two stuffed animals; he played slowly as if he was scared that he might break them. "I don't remember how I travelled from the Monolith to Runeterra," he continued, "I fell out of a dimensional rift and landed here. I heard that people say that I was enraged and rampaged over the earth."

"Correct," I replied.

"In truth, I did not."When I came here into this world, I saw emptiness. It was just filled with white and blue."

White and blue? Records said that Malphite's first ever appearance was- I stopped and thought of what Malphite recalled. He appeared in Runeterra not too long ago, so it's impossible for him to not see anything. But if he only saw white and blue, it would mean that...

"I took just one step to gauge where I was," Malphite raised the toy bull up in the air and made one big gruff to mimic a giant step. "I didn't feel anything when I took that step. But after I did that, a thin pillar of light appeared. Since it was the first thing I saw, I wanted to find its source. It was beneath the white colours, so I shrunk down to see it."

That entire region... That great disaster... Could it all have been just an accident?

"I shrank down only to find that I destroyed a huge chunk of land. I was so large that I was staring at the sky and the clouds and that I didn't know what was beneath me. I literally stepped on a country in the middle of the ocean and crushed it to the bottom of the ocean. The pillar of light was some form of ancient magic. It carried the souls of its in habitants to which ever afterlife they believed in." Malphite looked very sad when he recalled this memory. "I've killed many people, and I didn't know what killing was yet at that time."

"I beg your pardon?"

"In the Monolith, we were very peaceful. We had order. No conflict whatsoever," he said, "we had no concept of violence. So when I shrank down, I saw bodies floating and moving on the surface of the water. I picked one up and noticed that they were so small. They were so soft. The body felt like a toy in my hand." Malphite then placed the two stuffed animals back into the pit. "I crushed it."

I could imagine being in that scenario, but what I couldn't imagine was being in that exact same situation without knowing the concept of violence.

"I saw red," he continued, "then the body didn't move, so I picked another one up. Then another. And another." He paused and closed his eyes. "I... I was too strong... They were so frail... Fragile even..."

"It's okay," I said as I put my shoulder over him to comfort him. "It wasn't your fault."

Malphite recovered slowly and continued, "I knew something was wrong, so I shrunk even more. Eventually I was around my regular height, and I saw the faces of the people. That was when I learned the concept of fear. I was attacked with magic spells when they saw me shrink. They floated above the water and started to attack me casting spell after spell. That was when I learned the concept of pain. I regrew a few meters tall and ran from them. They chased me tirelessly. They were angry at me. I ran and ran until they were long gone. I then found myself on an island filled with trees and animals. Something about that place reminded me of the Monolith; it was calming. It was on that small island that I understood the concept of strength. I had to control my strength because I didn't want to hurt anyone unless needed."

Malphite then took my hand and I felt his rough, rocky hands envelop my hand. His grip was strong and it almost hurt, but I knew that he was trying very hard not to crush me. "You asked what it meant to live," he continued, "to live means to know pain." He then tightened his grip on me, "when you know pain, you learn about power and about strength. You then have to respect your strength because it becomes a burden. What you do or not do has a consequence."

He then squeezed it a bit more and I wanted to get out of his grip, but I endured it some more. "Had I stayed in the Monolith, I would not have learned about violence. But violence helped me measure my strength, and helped me develop trust and bonds." He let go of my hand and then shrunk to become the size of a marble on the ground.

I picked him up and I increased my sense of hearing by a few hundred times. I heard him say, "now I am small. You can crush me. Will you?"

I shook my head. The world's "deadliest" being was now at my mercy. I felt powerful during that one moment. _Immensely_ powerful. However, I couldn't bring myself to crush this... innocent being.

I left him on the ground and he grew back to my level and said, "I hope that I answered your question."

"You did," I said as I gave him a hug. I appear to have caught him off guard since he didn't know how to react. After a while, he wrapped his heavy arms around me and squeezed.

"Thank you," he said. "You are very caring."

Was I? This act of hugging was just the logical thing to do. Right? What perhaps urged me to do this?

"And you were very helpful," I replied. "You helped me see things in a different perspective."

"You're welcome," the loving giant replied.

It was during our hug that I heard the entrance door swing open revealing a young Jinx wearing a pair of sunglasses and a white high school outfit with a checkered skirt and knee high leggings and a pair of plain black shoes. "We're baaaaaaaack!" she exclaimed. "And we brought presents!"

Twisted Fate suddenly appeared carrying dozens of bags and upon entering, he just dumped everything on the floor and passed out.

Malphite and I stopped hugging and I approached the adolescent asking, "what are those?" I pointed at a bag that looked filled with hextech gadgetry.

Jinx then pulled her glasses down and winked at me saying, "your new face! You're getting a make over!"

"By who?" I dared ask.

"By me silly!" she snickered menacingly, "don't worry Clock Girl. I'll be gentle."

End of Log.

* * *

This was an electronic message between two people who happened to be online at the same time.

PT: Yo, you there?

MH: What do you want?

PT: Hiiiiiiiiiiiiii. I need a favor.

MH: I can see that. I saw you on the news.

PT: Yeah, but I need you to help me find someone.

MH: And why should I help you this time?

PT: I found her.

MH: Who?

PT: You know who I'm talking about. She's alive.

MH:... Alright. What do you want me to do Pigtails?

* * *

**Thanks for reaching the bottom! Once again, I hope you enjoyed! :D**

**Btw, the last chunks are just short behind the scenes I wanted to include, but since I wrote in 1st person, I couldn't, so these are just awkwardly at the end. Hope it's not so confusing. It's just to prep the stage of something big ;)**

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**Review Corner!**

**Gea5s: I agree. I feel like the first person hindered me from making this chapter faster. I tried going over your suggestion, but I'm not feeling like it's helping me direct how I want to portray Ori, but I thank you for the recommendation though!**

**TheUdonAddict: Hi there! I do hope that you haven't forgotten about me! Sorry for this being even longer, but I have been busy and writing these are more of a hobby. LIIIIIIIIIVE! Don't die dude! Respawn: 30s**

**NightlyShark: Welcome to the Review Corner! Thanks for liking it! Unfortunately, even I don't know how fast I can write these, but I thank you for reading this far! I will probably go back to third person next chapter (it'll definitely make me write faster) and don't worry! You have nothing to worry about! ABSOLUTELY.**

**PaperWorld: Welcome to the RC! Lol, don't worry man, people make mistakes, but we just gotta learn from them! Thank you for liking the story! We gotta make Heim have a skin where he's a disco dancer. That and Pillowfighter Malphite :)**


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